


Sunday Mornings

by adiwriting



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Additional warnings included in chapter notes as relevant, Domestic Bliss, Fluff, M/M, building hearts a home, doggie dads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:22:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 34,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25680523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adiwriting/pseuds/adiwriting
Summary: A collection of one-shots centered around Alex and Michael's sacred Sunday mornings together, starting with their first Sunday back together and going from there.
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Comments: 292
Kudos: 248





	1. Week 1

**Author's Note:**

> This series gets posted on my Tumblr every Sunday without fail (because I've been able to queue it up for the next 7 weeks and counting). I hope to be consistent enough to upload here every Sunday, but seeing as I'm staring off 3 weeks behind, I make no promises.
> 
> Week 1: Michael watches Michael sleep

Michael lays in Alex’s bed, unable to sleep. It’s late enough to be considered early for some. He knows it won’t be that long before the sun starts peeking out and waking his boyfriend up. Alex is physically incapable of sleeping in. For now though, Alex is passed out and has been for several hours. And, for the record, not that Michael has ever had any doubt, he’s looking incredibly sexy even in his sleep. 

Michael has tried to fall asleep, but he just can’t. He’s been amped up ever since they got home super late from their trip to Albuquerque. Every time he closes his eyes, he can’t get his brain to slow down enough to sleep. He hears every creak, every whistle of the wind, every hum from the fan overhead. He’s highly aware of the way the door squeaks each time it moves, and sure, he could get up and close it, but then he’d just focus on the ticking of the clock. 

Instead, he lays here creating an ever growing list of home improvements that he’s going to do when he wakes up in the morning. Because honestly, Alex has lived here for a year. He doesn’t understand how some simple things haven’t been done already. The door alone is a simple enough fix, all it needs is some WD-40. The fan above needs a bolt tightened. The creaking wood is a more time intensive project, but he can’t imagine Alex will fight him on it, especially when Michael offers up his labor for free. 

He is itching to start working. If he were back at his own place and unable to sleep, he’d already be out in the junkyard tinkering with a car or down in the bunker running more calculations. Projects, he’s learned, are great for wearing him out to the point where he’s too exhausted to do anything but sleep. But he’s not at his own place, and he’s pretty sure if he moves, he’ll wake Alex up. 

And there’s not a force on this Earth strong enough to risk waking Alex up. 

He settles into his pillow and watches. Alex is, in most situations, a permanent ball of stress and tension. He’s always hyper alert, scanning every room they enter for potential threats. He thinks he’s sly about it. He hides it very well. But Michael can see it in the way he holds himself back. He notices it more than most, because he sees Alex when he’s not on edge. He gets to witness Alex when he’s relaxed and vulnerable, and so incredibly soft. That’s what he’s like right now. 

The stress in his face is gone. He’s wearing a gentle smile that has Michael wanting to know what he’s dreaming about that’s making him so happy. The lines of his back hold no tension. In the faint glow of the moonlight, his skin looks so soft and his scars are barely visible. And he’s just so fucking gorgeous that Michael cannot believe he’s allowed to have this now, whenever he wants. 

He bites his lips to keep from smiling like a total idiot, not that anyone would be able to see him beaming like a lovesick fool. 

This is the first time that they are doing this sleepover thing on purpose, and despite the fact that he can’t sleep, he pleads to whatever forces of the universe exist that it’s not his last. The whole, spending the night together and waking up in each other’s arms is a magic he’s only been able to experience a handful of times over the last twelve years. And each time, one of them — mainly him — is always surprised to see the other still there. Each time it’s brushed off as an accident because one of them was too tired to leave. Like either of them admitting that they just wanted to be held by the other in the afterglow had been anything to be ashamed of. 

Fuck that.

No. Alex had invited him to spend the night tonight. The two of them planned this, all the way down to the breakfast that they are going to make together in the morning. Michael had intentionally stopped by the grocery store yesterday before they headed to Albuquerque to pick up all the ingredients they would need for Alex to bake his homemade cinnamon rolls and for Michael to make omelettes. 

He reaches out to run his hands through Alex’s newly cut hair. Michael loves the look on him. It’s incredibly attractive. When Michael had first seen it, he’d pulled Alex into the car and made out with him for a solid hour, like they were 17 again. But, he will selfishly miss the excuse to reach out and brush Alex’s longer locks out of his eyes. 

Then again, they are boyfriends now. He doesn’t need an excuse anymore to reach out and touch. Alex is his and he is Alex’s. 

This time, he doesn’t try and hide the goofy smile that overtakes his face. He’s still not sure how they got here or that he trusts things to stay this way… but he’s determined to allow himself this happiness and not do anything to blow this up. His self-destructive days are behind him. This time, he isn’t going to push at Alex until he leaves, he’s going to hold him close and make sure he knows that he’s loved. This time, he’s going to make sure Alex has every reason in the world to stay. 

“Did you sleep at all?” Alex whispers, startling Michael. His eyes are still closed, but he’s awake. 

He allows his hand to travel from it’s spot in Alex’s hair to rest against the back of his neck. 

“I get it,” Alex says when Michael doesn’t respond. “I have a hard time sleeping in a new place for the first time, too.” 

Michael doesn’t say anything, he doesn’t need to. Alex’s words tell him that he sees him. He knows Michael well enough to understand without any explanation. Instead, Michael’s hand moves down Alex’s back and dips under the sheet, causing Alex to hum happily. Now that Alex is awake, there’s no reason not to touch. 

“Next time, I’ll make sure I wear you out enough that sleep won’t be as hard,” Alex says, reaching over to pull at Michael. They both roll over until Michael is laying on top of Alex, cradled between his thighs. It’s only then, that Alex finally opens his eyes. 

“Good morning.” Alex smiles up at him, happily. 

Michael leans over to give him a long, slow, lazy kiss. When he pulls away, he notices Alex chasing his lips. 

“God, I love you.” 

Alex beams at him. Literally beams. And Michael decides that breakfast can wait a few more hours, because he’s got plans to make sure that Alex feels utterly worshiped. It’s Sunday, neither of them have anywhere to be. There is all the time in the world. 


	2. Week 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex loves Michael most when he's being his science-loving, nerd!boy self.

Alex is sitting on the sofa scrolling through Netflix when Michael finally comes into the room, wearing nothing but Alex’s sweatpants and carrying a fresh mug of coffee. He sits down and Alex grabs the mug out of his hands to steal a sip for himself. Michael glares at him playfully, but he just shrugs back unapologetic. 

“It tastes better when it’s yours,” he says with a smile, earning him a chuckle and a roll of the eyes before Michael steals the mug back for himself. 

“Find anything for us to watch?” he asks, leaning his weight against Alex’s body. Alex wraps his arm around Michael’s shoulder and his hands move to to play with his hair as he continues to scroll aimlessly through the options. 

“I don’t know, I guess I don’t care,” he says, handing the remote to Michael. 

“There’s this new documentary that I’ve been reading up on about agriculture and over-cultivation,” he says, scrolling down to the documentary section and clicking through the options. 

Michael is such a fucking nerd and Alex loves it. 

He’s always known that Michael is smart. He was in classes with him growing up and thus, got to witness the ease with which Michael would learn any and every new concept their teachers introduced them to, no matter the subject, but especially math and science. He’d been aware of Michael’s scholarship and his original plans to go to school for agricultural engineering. And if none of that had been enough to convince him, Alex has been in Michael’s bunker. He’s seen the papers littered with complex mathematics that Alex will never understand. 

He’s always recognized Michael’s genius. But the sheer level of nerd is a relatively new side of Michael that Alex is lucky enough to witness. He has never understood it when people tease nerds. Watching somebody geek out about a passion of theirs has always been a beautiful thing to Alex. 

It’s why he enjoys talking to Greg about teaching. And why he always asks Liz how her research in California is coming along. Or why he asks Kyle about his day at the hospital. And yes, it’s also why he asks Max about his writing, even when it makes everyone around them groan. But few things will ever be as beautiful to Alex as the way Michael acts whenever he’s learning something new or explaining some science topic to him. It’s breathtaking. 

“Here it is,” Michael says, finding what he had been looking for. “It’s supposed to be really good but I haven’t been able to watch it because I don’t have a Netflix account.” 

Alex gives him a slightly judgmental look. Not because he’s never signed up for Netflix, he gets that the monthly subscription is a luxury not everyone is willing to pay. But because he’d never told Alex that before and they could have solved this problem a long time ago. 

“You know I can give you my log in, right?” Alex says. Even before they started dating, Alex would have given him his password so his nerdy ass could watch all the documentaries his heart desires. 

“Really?” he looks surprised. 

“Really.” He’s about to end it at that but instead gets a genius idea of his own. “Of course, I’ll require you pay me in coffee…” 

Michael rolls his eyes. He hands Alex his mug with an amused smile before standing up, seemingly to go make himself another cup. Alex smiles triumphantly and sips happily at what is truly, the best cup of coffee in town. He’s not sure how Michael manages it, but his coffee is always better than Alex’s, even when they are making it out of the same pot. 

“So I’m guessing you want to watch this nerdfest,” Alex calls out to him. 

Michael appears back at the doorway looking slightly embarrassed. “No, we don’t have to. I can watch it later.” 

“Guerin, do you want to watch this?” he asks again, already knowing the answer is yes even if Michael is going to pretend like he doesn’t care. 

“Whatever you want,” Michael says before walking back into the kitchen to finish preparing his mug. 

Well lucky for Michael, what Alex wants is to cuddle on the couch and watch his boyfriend geek out over agricultural engineering. 

He settles back into the corner of the couch, adjusting the pillows and getting comfortable so that he’ll be ready for optimal snuggling when Michael gets back. It’s 10am on a Sunday and they’ve already been up for a few hours. Alex had woken Michael up with a morning blow job and Michael had repaid the favor before they’d had a nice long shower together. Then Alex had cooked them both breakfast and Michael had done the cleaning up. It’s only their second week together, but already Alex smiles at the routines they are establishing. Spending lazy Sundays together he hopes is a routine that sticks. 

Michael comes back into the room with a new cup of coffee and they settle into each other before Alex presses play on the documentary. The smile he gets from Michael as a reward is well worth watching 2 hours on a topic that Alex could honestly care less about. 

And so Michael watches the TV with rapt attention and Alex watches Michael. 

It’s a great way to spend the morning, actually. Because Alex finds out that few things are as entertaining as getting to watch Michael geek out with no filter. Michael watches the screen with intense focus, but every five to ten minutes he’ll pause in order to turn and explain to Alex how he’s going to this, that, or whatever to solve the problem locally. He watches as Michael’s face scrunches up in concentration when he encounters something he doesn’t already know, and how his eyes get wide with excitement whenever they talk about something he does. 

Alex kisses the top of Michael’s head as Michael’s fingers run absentmindedly over the arm that Alex has around his waist. Once their coffees are both finished and set on the coffee table, Michael coaxes Alex down further on the couch until he’s spooning Michael, and while the position makes it more difficult to see the screen past all of Michael’s hair, Alex isn’t complaining one bit. 

It’s a two hour film and they are going on hour three with how often Michael keeps pausing the movie. It’s nearing 1pm, he’s been up for hours, and the warmth of Michael against him is causing his eyelids to droop. He wouldn’t mind taking a nap with Michael right here. Alex yawns, which Michael of course misreads and tenses next to him. 

“I’m sorry, I know this is boring to you,” Michael says. “It’ll be over in 10 minutes and then we’ll watch whatever you want to.” 

“I don’t mind,” Alex says, pulling Michael in closer and snuggling up against his back, leaving kisses on the back of his neck. “I’m exactly where I want to be.” 

Michael pauses the documentary to look at Alex, and Alex can’t help but lean in for a sweet kiss. He’s been wanting to kiss Michael from the first five minutes of the film. Michael rolls over until his entire body is facing Alex’s and then nudges his knee in between Alex’s thighs before kissing him again. This time the kiss is anything but sweet. It’s open and strong, and full of all of the usual passion and desire that Alex is used to with Michael. 

It doesn’t take more than a minute before Michael is tugging at Alex’s T-shirt, demanding it to come off and Alex separates his lips from Michael’s only long enough to get his shirt over his head. 

It’s a solid 45 minutes before they finish the last ten minutes of that documentary, and by then, they both have several missed phone calls and texts from their friends. Both of them had completely forgotten about plans for a late lunch with their friends at the Crashdown, but neither of them feels all that guilty for it. 

“New plan,” Michael says, standing up from the couch and stretching his back, not bothering to put his sweatpants back on. “Let’s not pretend like we’re ever going to leave the house on a Sunday.” 

Alex smiles. He loves this plan almost as much as he loves Michael. 


	3. Week 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Malex spend the morning in bed.

“Are you telling me that you really aren’t going to cook me breakfast?” Alex pouts. 

“No, I simply suggested that if we ordered Doordash and had them leave it on the porch, then I could use my telekinesis to bring the food to us and neither of us would have to leave the bed,” he explains, earning him a loud laugh from Alex. 

“You’re ridiculous,” Alex says to him. 

“I’m a genius,” Michael argues. 

“Or just really lazy,” he teases. 

“You don’t get it,” he says, trying to find some way to explain it. He reaches out to run his hands through the mess that is Alex’s hair. The man looks completely sexed out with his swollen lips and flushed skin and Michael can’t look at him and find the desire to leave anytime soon, no matter how hungry they both are. “You’re not getting the same view I’m getting.” 

Alex looks him up and down with ever darkening eyes and proceeds to lick his lower lip. “Oh, I don’t know, I think my view is practically perfect.” 

Michael runs his hands down Alex’s chest, careful to brush against his sensitive nipples, smiling at the way Alex’s breath hitches. 

“Do we really need food?” he asks, smiling at him in that way he knows always gets Alex going. 

Alex grabs onto Michael’s wrist to stop him before he can wrap his hands around the semi that Alex is sporting. 

“Let’s compromise,” Alex says. “You don’t need to cook, but can you at least go grab me a bowl of cereal or something?” 

As if on cue, Alex’s stomach growls loudly. Michael sighs and falls back into the pillows dramatically. He grumbles about it, but he’s not about to deny his boyfriend food when he so clearly wants it. 

Michael rolls out of bed, not bothering to put any clothes on. What would be the point? He’s planning on being naked, and keeping Alex naked, the rest of the day. Sundays are their only mutual day off and thus, it’s the one day of the week they are both allowed to enjoy each other the entire day. 

He reaches the kitchen and starts a pot of coffee as he moves to pull the milk out for the cereal. He pours Alex a bowl of the Honey Nut Cheerios he loves while he digs around the cabinet for the box of Pop Tarts he knows he brought over here before. It takes him a minute, but he does eventually find it hidden behind the healthy granola bars that Alex likes to eat on his way to work. 

“Isobel is texting you asking if you’re going to come over today?” Alex calls from the bedroom. 

Michael rolls his eyes. “Text back and remind her that it’s Sunday!” 

A few minutes later, Michael walks back into the bedroom with his arms full of various food and Alex’s bowl of cereal and two mugs of coffee floating beside him. 

“What’s this?” Alex asks, grabbing his cereal out of the air and setting it on the nightstand before reaching for their coffees. 

“Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and whatever snacks we need,” he explains. 

Alex’s eyes go wide before he starts laughing. 

“Damn,” he says, as Michael drops the food on the ground and crawls back into bed. “You clearly have a lot more confidence in my recovery time than I do.” 

Michael grins at him and his attempts to play coy. Michael knows better than anyone that Alex has a fairly endless libido and there’s certainly nothing wrong about his recovery time. Still, as hot as it is to think of having sex with Alex all day, he honestly hadn’t been planning that. He just wants to lay in bed with Alex today and not have to worry about leaving. And if they have some sex here and there, he’s not going to complain one bit. 

Michael accepts the coffee that Alex hands him once he’s settled and downs it pretty quickly before he opens up his package of Pop Tarts and lays his head down in Alex’s lap. 

“I know that I said I was craving one of your famous omelettes, but actually, this cereal is pretty good,” Alex says, leaning his head back against the headboard. 

Michael smiles up at him. “It has the added benefit of being quick. Omelettes take forever to make.” 

“Only because you insist on chopping your own veggies. You know they sell the pre-cut kind at the store,” he explains, drinking the last of the milk out of the bowl before setting it back on the nightstand. 

“That stuff’s super expensive,” he complains. 

He’ll never understand how you can take a pepper that’s worth a quarter and the simple act of chopping it and putting it in a container jacks the price up to $4. But then, Alex is the kind of guy who will pay for such a convenience while Michael doesn’t see the point. 

Most people assume that Michael is cheap because he’s poor. And while he’s not exactly rolling in dough, he does better than people seem to think, especially now that Sanders has left the business to him. It’s just that Michael is very particular about how he spends his money. He doesn’t see a point in paying for his booze at the Pony when he knows that eventually something is going to break and Maria will let him work off his tab with manual labor. He’s got a similar deal worked out with the Crashdown, where he’s in there fixing something at least once a week. He doesn’t see a reason to eat at fancy restaurants when he can cook food just as good at home for a quarter the price. It seems stupid to buy nicer patio furniture when somebody is always throwing something perfectly functional away at the junkyard that he can keep for free. And he would rather spend the money he does have on parts for his ship than on new clothes. 

Though, if he’s being honest with himself, his desire to work on his ship has become much more of a desire to see if it’s possible than one born out of a need to leave the planet. He hasn’t even been down to his bunker to tinker in over a week. After all, the home he’s spent his life looking for is materializing in front of him. And with each passing day where neither of them manage to screw this up, Michael is starting to believe this might actually be the forever home he’s been searching for his whole life. 

Alex’s hands make their way into his hair and start massaging his scalp in the way that always makes Michael feel like he’s turning to jello. 

“I don’t even need to have sex, just keep doing that and I’ll be happy,” he confesses, earning him a wide smile. 

“You’re like a cat, Guerin. You arch into every touch,” Alex teases him. 

“I like being touched by you,” he says with a shrug. “You’re not any better.” 

To prove his point, he reaches up to cup Alex’s cheek with his hand and Alex leans into the touch before kissing his palm. 

“Your sister is mad at me,” Alex explains. “After I texted her back on your phone, she texted me to complain that I was hogging all your free time.” 

“Isobel is fine,” Michael says with a roll of his eyes. “She’s just not used to me being in a relationship and having plans that don’t include her.” 

“But you were with Maria all last year,” he argues. 

It’s not that Michael forgot he dated Maria. He certainly remembers that fact well enough. It’s just that dating Maria and dating Alex were very different experiences for him. When he dated Maria, he honestly never made her his number one priority. He saw her regularly enough and she was  _ a _ priority for him, but she was never  _ the _ priority. And yeah, the longer he’s with Alex, the more he understands why Maria dumped him. Because with Alex, Alex is the priority. 

It’s different. He believes that he loved Maria, but it has nothing on his feelings for Alex. 

“That’s different,” is all he says. 

“Isobel is going to hate me if you don’t spend time with her,” Alex continues to argue. 

“She isn’t going to hate you, and I spend plenty of time with her,” he explains. “I just don’t spend Sundays with her.” 

“Fair enough,” Alex relents. 

Michael gets a sinking feeling that maybe Alex wanted him to go over to Isobel’s today. He sits up and looks Alex in the eyes looking for his response when he says, “Sundays are ours.” 

Alex smiles softly. “Of course they are.” 

“Did you want me to say yes to Isobel?” he asks, still trying to get a read on Alex. 

Alex reaches out, placing his arms around Michael’s shoulders and shakes his head. He then leans in to rest his forehead against Michael’s and takes a deep breath, causing Michael to chuckle. Alex is always smelling him. It’s kind of weird, but oddly sweet at the same time. 

“Okay then,” Michael says. 

“Okay,” Alex whispers. 

“Do you want to test that recovery time of yours?” he asks, earning him a big belly laugh. However, Alex is the one to roll them over so that Michael is on his back and Alex is laying on top of him, so Michael is pretty sure it’s answer enough. 


	4. Week 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex watches Michael sleep.

The feeling of the sun warming his face slowly pulls Alex out of a blissful dream. Not quite ready to move his body yet, he turns his head to the nightstand and opens his eyes. It’s 5:55am. He’s tired, sure, but years in the military have taught him that attempting to go back to sleep now is futile. His body is wired to be up between 0500 and 0600 everyday, no matter how little sleep he got the night before. 

He yawns and turns his head to look at the source of his exhaustion. He can’t help but smile at the sight of his boyfriend. Michael spent the night last night, as he has most nights since they got back together a month ago. In fact, the only reason Michael isn’t in his bed every night can really only boil down to a stupid comment Maria had made about them moving in together. Michael still feels enough guilt over their breakup to have insisted that they are most certainly  _ not _ living together. Alex would be mad at him for the entire thing, but he can’t bring himself to be. One, he too still feels how awkward things are with Maria and he loves her enough to want to be sensitive. And two… Michael can say he’s not living here all he wants, but the evidence speaks for itself. 

Michael’s black cowboy hat is hung on the hook on the door, where Alex used to hang his favorite Air Force hoodie. The same hoodie that now permanently rests on the back of the couch because Michael always wears it like a blanket when they watch movies together. There is an ever growing pile of change accumulating on the dresser from where Michael regularly empties his pockets when he comes in to change out of his jeans. Next to Alex’s bottles of lotions and various meds is a bottle of warming gel that Michael uses whenever his hand acts up. Hanging up in the closet are several of Michael’s clothes that Alex put there when he’d pulled his laundry out the other day and realized that half of the clothes were Michael’s rather than his own. Over by the full length mirror is a pile of the only 3 pairs of shoes that Michael owns. 

No. Michael doesn't live here. His things have just been slowly taking over Alex’s space… And Alex loves it. 

He bought this house last year and fell in love with its character, but it hadn’t really started to feel like home to him until the day there were two toothbrushes by the sink instead of one. 

Alex stretches carefully and tries not to groan at the way his shoulders pop. His body is particularly achy today, which he equates to a combination of lack of sleep and the enthusiasm that they’d gone at it last night. He’s going to have to talk Michael into a massage later.

Once his body is decently stretched out — or at least as stretched out as it can be without waking Michael — Alex rolls over onto his side to watch his boyfriend properly. 

Michael is always beautiful. It’s a fact. But the truth is, there’s something particularly entrancing about the way the morning sun hits Michael’s tanned skin. Alex allows himself to stare in a way he can’t get away with when Michael is awake. Not without Michael teasing him for it. 

He starts with his hair. Frizzy and all over the place. A combination of Alex’s hands constantly threading through and pulling whenever they have sex and the fact that Michael moves when he sleeps. A lot. The sun makes his hair glow like a halo, which is all too fitting. He reaches out and gently pulls a curl away from Michael’s face so that he can focus his attention there next. 

Alex watches the quick, constant movement of Michael’s eyes underneath his lids. He’s always thinking. Calculating. Planning. Inventing. When they were kids, Michael told him that his head was constant chaos that only music could quiet. Knowing what he knows about Michael’s past, he can see why Michael had chosen that word. But chaos doesn’t describe Michael’s brain. Not anymore. He’s just brilliant. He’s wicked smart and never stops thinking. Michael processes information at an inhuman rate, which Alex would equate to his alien DNA if he didn’t know that neither Max or Isobel share in his genius level intellect. 

It’s not rare for Michael to wake up in the middle of the night having somehow solved some complicated problem in his sleep. It’s why Alex had started to keep a journal on Michael’s side of the bed, so that he won’t have to get up at 3am and tear the house apart looking for paper so he could write down whatever complex equation he’s just solved. 

Alex runs his fingers across Michael’s forehead gently. He loves that brain. He firmly believes that Michael could solve the world’s biggest problems if he tried. And though Alex won’t risk the fight by bringing it up, he seriously hopes that Michael gets his degree one day so that the world can benefit from his genius. Roswell is too small for a brain like Michael’s. 

Alex traces the line of his nose and bites back a giggle when Michael scrunches it up in response. He’s so adorable at times that Alex truly marvels that anyone can honestly believe his tough guy act. Michael is so soft and tender with Alex. Even when they weren’t together and every other word out of Michael’s mouth was a sarcastic dig meant to goad Alex into a fight, Alex had always been able to see the vulnerability in Michael’s eyes. It was part of what sent Alex running so often. He always had a genuine fear of breaking and in turn, getting broken. 

His palm moves to cradle Michael’s cheek and Michael’s head leans into the touch, turning his head to kiss his palm. Even in sleep, Michael is constantly seeking him out. It’s moments like this that make Alex question how he ever felt insecure about Michael’s feelings. Maybe if he had just trusted in their love earlier… 

“Stop. Sleep,” Michael grumbles, seemingly cutting off his anxiety spiral before it could even start. 

“I’m not tired,” he teases, but Michael is silent, having already fallen back asleep. 

Alex’s hand drifts down to Michael’s neck and he cringes when he notices a bruise to the right of his collarbone that wasn’t there yesterday. Alex has always been incredibly careful about hickeys. He’d had to be. And by the time he’d felt safe enough to risk it, he was at an age where it was no longer socially acceptable. Thankfully, this one should be mostly hidden once Michael puts on a shirt, so hopefully he won’t be too annoyed with Alex. 

His hand travels down Michael’s chest. He stares at the dark hair, one of the most noticeable changes from when they were seventeen. Alex hasn’t been with a lot of men, but virtually all of the ones he’s been with manscape. Which is fine. It’s understandable. It’s not like anybody wants to worry about hair in their mouth when they are kissing their way down someone’s chest. But damn, there’s something about the dark hair on Michael’s tanned chest that always gets him going. 

It’s unfair really, because it means that Alex is pretty much always turned on whenever Michael is shirtless. Which is all of the time. The man has some kind of personal problem with wearing shirts. 

He drags his index finger through the darker patch of hair on his stomach and he feels Michael’s muscles tense under his touch. Before Alex’s hand can dip under the sheet currently protecting Michael’s modesty, the man grumbles something incoherent and rolls over onto his stomach, snuggling into Alex’s side. 

Alex sinks back into the pillow, his one arm pinned under Michael’s head. He moves his free hand up to play with Michael’s hair. Michael hums in content, but doesn’t say anything more or do anything to signal that he’s truly awake. Alex closes his eyes and tries to relax. While he isn’t likely to fall back asleep, that doesn’t mean he isn’t content to lay here for hours while his boyfriend does. This is the kind of stuff Sunday mornings are made for. 

Isn’t this what Maroon 5 was getting at? Cause, yeah. Alex never wants to leave. 

He buries his nose in Michael’s hair and breathes in deep, taking in the smell of rain and dollar store shampoo that is uniquely Michael. It smells like love and safety. Like home. 

God, twelve years of loving this man and Alex didn’t think it was possible for that love to continue to crow. Each day he’s proven wrong. See, he’s starting to learn that these small moments together… the quiet unassuming moments… They are a thousand times more powerful than the big, dramatic moments that rom coms are made of. Because right here? At this moment? All he can think about is the ending of the stupid Grinch movie when his heart grows three times in size. 

That’s how Michael makes him feel. Like his heart is constantly growing, aching with joy but always wonderfully welcome. Waking up next to Michael in the morning is one of those painfully sweet moments that pull at his heart. And maybe it won’t always feel like this. He hopes it does. He doesn’t want to get used to this, because he doesn’t ever want to stop realizing how lucky they are that they managed to come together after twelve years of will they won't they. Alex hopes he appreciates the magic of waking up next to Michael because he never wants to grow complacent in this relationship. 

“You’re being creepy again, and it’s too early,” Michael grumbles, not even bothering to open his eyes. Instead he throws his leg over Alex’s hip in an attempt to snuggle even closer. 

Alex rolls his eyes at the argument they have most mornings. “Why is it creepy?” 

“Because you’re studying me like you’re plotting the best ways to murder me in my sleep.” 

Alex laughs at that, shaking Michael who reaches out to pinch him in his side and demands he stop so that he can rest. 

“No murder today,” he promises, kissing the top of his head. 

Michael’s hand moves up to rest at his heart and Alex reaches out to grab at his wrist to keep his hand in place. “I love you.”

Michael does open his eyes for that. Alex meets his gaze and the only way he can describe the way Michael is staring at him is fond. 

“I love you, too,” Michael says, lifting his head just long enough to kiss Alex. “Go back to bed.”

“We’re already in bed,” Alex teases, earning him another groan. 

“Go back to sleep. And get better dad jokes before we have a kid, please.” 

Michael bringing up a kid is enough to stop any teasing that Alex would have likely continued with. Though his stupid boyfriend clearly doesn’t realize the gravity of what he’s just said, because he’s already fallen back asleep. Alex can tell he’s not just faking it either because he’s lightly snoring in that way that Alex really shouldn’t find adorable but does. 

Dad. Him. 

It’s an interesting thought. One he honestly hadn’t considered. The thought of bringing another Manes into this world is frankly terrifying. Alex would be satisfied if the family name died out with him and his brothers. But thinking of having a child with Michael? A little Guerin baby? 

Yeah, that thought gives him plenty to think about for the next two hours while Michael sleeps. 


	5. Week 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex has a PTSD episode and Michael helps him through it. Hurt/Comfort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did I tell you, I would forget a week. I never posted last Sunday's Week 5 fic on AO3- though it was on Tumblr. Sorry! Here you go! 
> 
> Trigger warnings for this one- it has the aftermath of a PTSD episode.

This is really not how Alex planned on spending their Sunday. In fact, Michael had specifically mounted a new television in their bedroom so that they could marathon Netflix from bed all day. They’d planned on grilling steaks for dinner and then were going to take a drive out to the desert to watch the stars like they used to when they were kids. 

In absolutely zero versions of his plans did he expect to be sitting on the couch numb and trying to come down from an episode as Michael switched back and forth from doting boyfriend wanting to make sure Alex was okay, and cleaning up the mess that has become the living room. 

See, approximately two hours ago, they’d been startled by a very large crash that had triggered a PTSD episode. Turns out, there was a leak in the roof and after the last few days of heavy rain, the water had eventually caused part of the ceiling to cave in. Which was all good and fine, nothing to panic over, truly. Except, for a moment Alex hadn’t been 30 years old and lying in bed with his boyfriend in his own home… Instead he’d been 17 and it hadn’t been a crash he’d heard, so much as the slamming of a door hitting the wall as it was thrown open. And that moment had been enough to cause Alex to be trapped in his brain for the next hour and a half. 

Michael had understood in a way nobody else could. When the crash first went off, Alex has a foggy recollection of Michael jumping out of bed instantly and using his powers to throw the dresser against the door. After that, Alex had dissociated. Everything was blank and the only reason he knows that he had a panic attack is the way his body now aches in a specific kind of exhaustion that only comes after being in full blown panic mode for an extended period of time. 

It’s funny, everyone is always careful around Alex with things like guns and fireworks. They always assume they understand what his PTSD triggers will be and relate it back to his time in the military. His triggers are both more complicated and simpler than that. They’re raised voices. Hands on his neck without warning. A hammer hitting a nail. And, apparently, the sound of the ceiling falling in. 

He sighs and runs his hands through his hair. He knows he needs to stand up and help Michael. The living room is filled with water and bits of plaster. There’s probably not any saving his keyboard, though Michael assures him that he can fix anything. The guitars had thankfully stayed dry despite their cases being soaked. There’s a crack in the coffee table and… 

Honestly, Alex can’t bring himself to care. The entire thing, all of this, feels so far away despite the fact that it’s happening right in front of him. 

He curls up on the sofa, lays his head down, and stares blankly ahead. 

“Why don’t you go back to bed,” Michael says, kneeling right in front of him. “I can get this all sorted out.” 

Alex just shrugs. He doesn’t move. He doesn’t say what he should — that he doesn’t want to be alone right now. That he just needs Michael to hold him for a while longer. It’s stupid. Michael is doing what he needs to be doing. He’s trying to stop the water from continuing to come into the house and do even more damage. If Alex was more aware, he would care. When Alex comes back to himself, he  _ will _ care. And he’ll be appreciative that at least one of them was cognizant enough to act. 

But right now, Alex is alone and scared and just needs to feel like he’s loved by a single person in his life. 

Michael reaches out to place a hand to Alex’s cheek, careful not to get close to his neck. “I’m going to get the water to stop, the rest of this will keep until later, okay?” 

Alex nods. 

“I love you,” Michael tells him firmly. It’s exactly what he needs to hear, but the words get lost in a fog before they reach his aching heart. He simply nods again, knowing he’s supposed to be saying it back, but unable to find the words. 

Michael stares at him for another minute or two. Alex tries to call up the energy to say something, but he just can’t. Michael leans over and kisses his forehead before standing up and getting back to work. 

Michael could have been working for hours. Alex doesn’t really know. Time passes and Alex feels all of it and none of it. Each second feels like a stab in the heart and each breath in takes a conscious effort on his part. But then, the sun begins to peek through the clouds and Alex could have sworn that Michael said it wasn’t going to stop raining until the afternoon. Regardless, time passes and eventually Michael is in front of him, pulling on his hands until he stands up and Michael leads him back to bed. 

****

They are watching Netflix and Alex is settled in between Michael’s legs, laying back against his chest. Michael’s arms are around him, hugging him from behind while his chin rests on his shoulder. Every so often, Michael kisses his neck and whispers loving words into Alex’s ear. It’s exactly what he needed and he loves Michael that much more for knowing that without Alex having to ask. 

“I’m sorry I ruined our plans,” Alex whispers. It’s the first thing he’s said since the whole ceiling incident. 

“You didn’t ruin anything,” Michael assures him, nose nuzzling into his hair. Alex can feel Michael trying to get him to look at him, but he can’t, not yet. He’s still too embarrassed over the entire thing. Both for the panic attack, and for how clingy he’s been since. 

“We were supposed to go out and see the stars,” he argues. 

Michael grabs his chin and gently guides him until he’s looking out the window. A flash of lightning lights up the entire room. Has it been raining long? he wonders.

“You were saying?” Michael says. It’s soft, he’s still being careful with Alex, but Alex knows if he were to look at Michael right now, he would be wearing that smartass smirk of his. 

“I don’t want to be like this,” he admits. 

Faster than Alex can process, Michael moves and is sitting in front of him, staring him down. The energy in the air is crackling and Alex should probably be scared, but it’s Michael, so he’s not. 

He cradles his face with his hands and says very firmly, “You are not broken, Alex.” 

“But I—” he starts to argue but Michael cuts him off. 

“We all have shit. I wasn’t exactly chill when it happened either. There is  _ nothing _ wrong with you.” 

Alex wants to believe him, but it’s hard. He can still remember the ways in which his dad used to taunt him for having panic attacks when he was younger. Alex knows that it’s not his fault that his dad used to beat him and now he has PTSD from it. He  _ knows _ that. But knowing something is logically true and really feeling it are two very different things. 

“Listen, I can promise you that there is going to be a day where I lose my shit completely and you have to be the calm one taking care of my ass. And when that day happens, you’ll cuddle me, remind me that I’m loved, and do whatever else I need and never once judge me just as I don’t judge you,” Michael says with complete certainty. “We all deal with things in our own way. You and I had a shitty childhood, so of course we were triggered by a loud noise. That’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“I just want to be past it,” Alex whispers, leaning his forehead against Michael’s. He closes his eyes and draws on Michael’s strength, it helps. 

“You are,” he whispers back. “You became so much better than the man he tried to raise. You’re strong and fierce and yet still open and vulnerable and loving. So fucking loving.” 

Alex takes a shuddering breath and allows Michael’s words to sink in. It’s easy for Alex to hear his dad’s voice in his head during his weakest moments… But even back when they were 17, Michael’s kind words always found a way to drown out his self-doubts. He takes several more calming breaths before he reaches out to wrap his arms around Michael’s shoulders. 

He opens his eyes again, starting to feel more like himself again. Michael smiles at him and gives the deepest sigh before saying, “You’re so fucking beautiful, I just can’t.”

Alex blushes at that. Michael’s hands are at his hips and his thumbs have snuck under his t-shirt to rub soft circles against his bare skin. 

“So what you’re saying is that you’re only with me for my looks?” he teases, tentatively, trying it out. 

Michael barks out a surprised laugh, moving until he’s straddling Alex. 

“Absolutely,” Michael says with one of his trademark cocky smiles. He runs his hands through Alex’s hair, settling at the back of his neck. 

Alex tilts his head up to kiss Michael. It’s a slow kiss. Neither of them push for more, but neither of them rush to pull away either. When they do finally come up for air, Alex realizes that he’s still pretty tired from the day’s events, but he feels back to normal at least. 

“Thank you for dealing with the ceiling,” he says, running his hands up and down Michael’s back, giving his boyfriend goosebumps. 

“It’s not dealt with yet,” he explains. “I fixed it enough that the living room wasn’t going to keep flooding, but tomorrow, I’m going to have to get up there and patch the roof properly.” 

“I can call somebody for that,” he tells him, wanting to make sure he doesn’t feel obligated. Tomorrow is Michael’s only other day off.

“Like hell you will.” Michael looks offended. “You think I want you calling Mrs. Ramsey’s son? I don’t need you mooning over some overjacked construction guy. I saw the way you used to look at him back in high school. No thanks. He does shitty work. Nobody is touching that roof but me.” 

“I did not used to moon over Conner,” Alex argues. 

Michael snorts at that and Alex rolls his eyes. 

Okay, perhaps he’d had a mild crush on Conner back in freshman year. Who hadn’t? Conner had been a senior and the star quarterback and anyone with eyes could see how attractive he was. But it wasn’t like Alex had ever even talked to the guy. 

“You just want me to moon over you,” Alex counters. 

Michael has been consistently spending his days off finding various projects around Alex’s house. First it had been fixing the fan in the bedroom. Next, he’d worked on the plumbing to make sure that the bathroom sink could get cold water. Currently, he’s been slowly replacing the bad floorboards around the house. Alex hasn’t complained. He loves coming home from work and seeing Michael deep in whatever project he’s working on… And Michael caught on after the third time Alex had practically jumped him. 

“Obviously,” Michael says, leaning in to give Alex another kiss before climbing off his lap and settling back against the headboard. 

“Are you going to wear an orange vest and one of those tight little shirts?” Alex asks, snuggling into Michael’s side as he picks up the remote and resumes playing the show they’ve been watching. 

“I’ll wear whatever you want me to, Babe,” Michael says, wrapping his arm around Alex and placing a kiss to the top of his head. 

Alex is suddenly overwhelmed with a feeling of love and safety and forever. 

“I love you.” 

“Yeah, you’d better,” Michael says with a laugh. “It’s gonna be hot as balls up on that roof.” 

Alex sits up and shakes his head. He’s serious. Michael’s amused smile fades into a soft one that Alex knows he reserves just for him. “I love you too.” 

Alex settles back into his arms and they watch the show until it reaches the opening credits. Alex is about to reach for the remote to skip past them when he hears Michael whisper a soft, “You scared me today.” 

Alex closes his eyes in shame. “I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t apologize, I’m not mad,” Michael says. “I just… I’m saying it wasn’t easy for me to watch you like that. I’m glad I was here and could help, but… it was still scary.” 

Alex takes a deep breath. Yeah. He’s sure it was. “I’ll talk to my doctor about adjusting my meds.”

Michael doesn’t say anything in response, but if the way he squeezes Alex’s arm is any indication, it’s the answer he’d needed to hear. 

The credits end and they both focus their attention back on the show. 


	6. Week 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex plans a romantic date to watch the sunrise together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at me. Posting on AO3 on time for a change. Here. Have some fluff to make up for the sad last week.

If Michael is being honest, he wasn’t sold on the idea at first. When Alex had woken him up at 5am, telling him to grab his shoes and meet him at the car, Michael hadn’t been thrilled. After all, 5am is incredibly early for his day off and he’d been really looking forward to sleeping in. But now that they have arrived, Michael has to admit, he’s coming around. 

After all, being driven out to the middle of the desert, to the same spot that they used to come to when they were kids, just to watch the sunrise together? It’s a pretty smooth move. A move made even more romantic when Alex reveals that he’s packed breakfast for the two of them. 

Michael pulls down the tailgate as Alex grabs a blanket to spread out over the bed of the truck. Just like old times. 

“You know, you don’t have to work so hard to get laid,” he teases as he helps Alex climb into the back. He’s careful to send him a wink though to let him know that he very much appreciates the effort. 

“You’re welcome.” His smile is big and unguarded. It has Michael rocking back on his heels. 

Fuck. He’s seriously the most attractive person in the entire world. Looking at him when he’s like this always catches Michael’s breath. He still doesn’t understand how he’s finally being allowed this after all the shit he’s done, but he’s not going to fight it. 

Michael shakes his head clear and crawls up after him. Alex is already lounging attractively, arms open, inviting Michael to join him. He wastes no time snuggling up beside him. They lay there like that, Michael with his head on Alex’s shoulder, staring up at the few remaining stars they can still see as the sky turns a light blue. Sunrise is nearing. 

“Did I miss an anniversary or something?” Michael asks after several minutes. 

“Can’t I just want to do something romantic for my boyfriend?” Alex asks. 

Michael rolls onto his stomach and puts his arms on Alex’s chest before resting his head against them. “You can. I was just curious what inspired this?” 

“It’s nothing,” Alex says in a way that means it’s most certainly something. Michael stares at him until he continues. “It’s just something stupid Rameriz said to me the other day.” 

“Rameriz? That douchey sergeant who works the gate?” 

Alex nods. 

“What the fuck did he have to say?” Michael asks, silently thinking that whatever it was, he probably still owes him a beer for getting Alex to plan all of this. 

“He was talking to the guys, trying to get advice for this romantic anniversary he’s planning, and then made a joke that I didn’t have to worry about that stuff because I’m dating a guy,” Alex said. “I don’t know, it’s stupid. But it annoyed me.” 

Michael sits up. “What because we’re two dudes, we can’t be romantic?” 

Alex sits up to join him. “Apparently,” he says with a deep sigh. 

Alex rolls his eyes and Michael finds he’s just as annoyed. “Did you tell him that we’re like romance goals?” 

Alex snorts. “Romance goals?” He quirks his eyebrow at Michael, teasing him and damn, Michael just wants to tackle him and have his way with him… but that will have to wait. 

“I don’t know,” he says, ducking his head to hide a blush. “That’s what Isobel calls us.” 

“Good,” Alex replies, and Michael looks up to see him puffing out his chest a bit. “I’m glad somebody appreciates a decent love story.” 

“Decent?” Michael scoffs. “What happened to cosmic?” 

“I just… If I have to hear about Liz and Max and their stupid handprint story one more time, I’m going to scream,” Alex says.

Michael is about to agree, because he has noticed that Max has a tendency to talk about his relationship like it’s the end all and be all. As if he’s the only one that found his soulmate in high school and spent ten years pining… Then Alex’s words click. 

“Do you want a handprint?” he asks, seriously. 

“No,” Alex says instantly then pauses, actually thinking about it. The tension in his body relaxes and he reaches out for Michael’s hands. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean that,” he says much softer this time. “If you ever decided that was something that you wanted to share with me, I would 100% welcome your handprint on me. Because there’s not a single part of you that I don’t welcome. What I meant was… I don’t need it. We fell in love without all of that. When Liz or Max tell me that story, I don’t get jealous, because I know and see all of you without any handprint. And I know you see me too.” 

Michael smiles at that. He feels the same way. He’s sure one day, he’ll try it with Alex just to see how it feels. But the truth is, he’s never done it with Alex because it always seemed like a crutch. Max used his handprint with Liz to show her how he felt about her because he couldn’t say the words. Most of his problems with Alex have stemmed from an inability to communicate, and if he wants this to work, he’s determined not to take any shortcuts. 

“You know, Max is always asking Isobel how to win back Liz,” Michael explains. “I’ll be sitting right there and he won’t even think to ask me about it, even though, between Iz and I, I’m clearly more likely to have advice on winning back your soulmate after you’ve messed up.” 

“That’s because everyone thinks all we do is fuck,” he says, dragging over the cooler he’d packed to start pulling food out. 

“I mean, we do fuck a lot… but that’s not all we do,” Michael argues. 

“Yeah, I don’t think they believe either of us can be romantic though,” he says. “They look at us and see a repressed airman and…” Alex waves his hand over Michael, searching for the right word to describe Michael. 

“Sex god?” Michael teases, earning him a shocked laugh. 

“I was gonna go with emotionally stunted cowboy with too much swagger, but that comment probably says enough.” Alex glares at him playfully. 

Over Alex’s shoulder, Michael catches the first glimpse of sunrise as the horizon lights up a bright orange. Michael nods towards it. “We gonna watch this thing?” 

Alex spins around on the spot to face the sunrise and Michael pulls Alex back against his chest and hugs him from behind, hooking his chin over his shoulder. 

“Anyone that thinks you can’t do romance, is an idiot,” Michael tells him, kissing the side of his neck as the sun slowly paints the sky vivid shades of red and orange, making Alex’s skin just glow. 

Alex smiles at him over his shoulder before turning back around, resting his head against Michael’s shoulder. 

“This may be more romantic than the first time you took me to look at the stars when we were kids.” Michael doesn’t need to see Alex’s face to know that he’s looking smug. 

“Mmmm,” he hums in agreement. He may find Alex’s confidence sexy as hell, but he certainly can’t allow it. Because this morning has been pretty impressive, but Michael has had some pretty smooth moments himself. 

“Well it’s more romantic than me taking you to see the stars, but less romantic than when I surprised you at the airport after your first tour,” he points out, playfully pinching Alex’s side, earning him a laugh. 

“I’ll take your airport surprise and raise you a love note slipped into your wallet before my second tour,” Alex says. 

And, yeah. That’s fair. It had taken Michael a few days to find it once Alex had left, but damn… It had been a hell of a note. Michael still has it in his wallet to this day. Those ten years hadn’t been great, but that doesn’t mean that they haven’t had some truly brilliant moments. 

“No no no. See, I bought an airstream so you could come home on leave and not have to see your father,” he argues, enjoying messing with Alex, mostly because Alex was always super competitive. “I win the romance game.” 

Alex scoffs. “You bought an airstream so you wouldn’t have to sleep in a truck.” 

“I bought an airstream so  _ you _ wouldn’t have to sleep in my truck,” Michael says. 

Alex sits up and looks at him with narrowed eyes, trying to see if that’s the truth or not. Michael continues to smile at him, refusing to give anything away. Alex eventually huffs. 

“Let’s just agree that we’re both awesome,” he says, grabbing some of the fruit he’d packed before settling back in against Michael. 

“Is that Alex Manes for ‘fine you win?’” 

Alex laughs. “You’re a real jackass.” 

“Your jackass,” he says, stealing the strawberry from Alex’s hand and eating it himself. 

Alex huffs. “There’s literally more strawberries right next to you,” he complains. 

“It tastes better when it’s yours,” he says, repeating the same argument Alex always makes whenever he steals Michael’s coffee. Alex glares at him for a minute and Michael just smiles back sweetly until Alex’s face relaxes and he melts back into him. 

They sit there for several more minutes in silence as the sun seems to settle and the sky returns to a more natural blue, all traces of red and orange gone. Even then, Alex doesn’t move and Michael has no plans to make him. They eat their breakfast in comfortable silence, Michael stealing Alex’s food every so often and Alex randomly bringing their joined hands up to place kisses at the back of Michael’s hand. 

They have nowhere to be and no reason to rush. 

At some point Alex starts humming a song Michael doesn’t recognize, which probably means that it’s the secret song he’s been writing for the last week. The song that Michael isn’t allowed to ask about but will get to hear with everyone else at the next open mic night. 

If there is such a thing as a perfect moment, this is it. He suddenly feels the need to immortalize this morning, even though he really isn’t much of a ‘document the moment’ kind of guy. 

“Do you really wanna piss the heteros off?” Michael asks. 

“What?” Alex sounds resigned, but Michael knows him well enough to know that he’s already agreed without needing to hear whatever Michael is about to say, and he loves that about Alex. He reaches into his pocket and hands Alex his phone. 

Alex smiles at him in understanding, taking the phone from him. He types Michael’s password in and he opens up the camera app and holds it out in front of him, careful to include both of them in the frame as well as their picnic.

“Ready?” 

Michael nods and at the last second, as Alex is taking the photo, Michael kisses Alex’s cheek. 

And that’s how, twenty minutes later, they both end up updating their social media for the first time in over a year talking about love, surprises, and sunrise meals. #RelationshipGoals. 


	7. Week 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael's plans to spend all Sunday in bed get derailed when Liz's car breaks down.

Michael wakes up to the sound of his phone going off and he reaches out quickly to silence it before it wakes Alex up, too. Unfortunately, in his rush to silence his phone, it also ends the incoming call. He pulls the phone to his face to see what on Earth had somebody calling him so early in the morning that even Alex isn’t awake yet. 

The missed call is from Liz and that’s when Michael notices that he has 4 text messages from her. 

_ Liz (4:05am): Are you awake? I need you to come get me.  _

_ Liz (4:10am): I get that you’re sleeping, but my towing options are slim and all involve me calling either a misogynistic pig or a racist one.  _

_ Liz (4:20am): I’m gonna get murdered out here.  _

_ Liz (4:25am): Please don’t make me call Max for help, I’m not ready to see him yet.  _

Michael immediately calls Liz back and she picks up on the first ring. 

“I thought you were in California,” he whispers, trying not to wake Alex. As carefully as he can, he crawls out of bed and grabs the first pair of pants that he can find and throws them on.

“I was, I’m back,” she answers. “Or… almost back. My car broke down just outside of San Patricio.” 

“Damn.” 

He instantly knows what she means now about being scared to call anyone else. The guy that runs San Patricio’s sole shop is such a notorious racist that even those who grew up in Roswell know not to ever call him. And the only other shop in Roswell besides Michael’s is run by a family of sexist pigs who are currently in the middle of a harassment lawsuit. 

“See, I’m going to end up in some creepy House of Wax museum if you don’t come,” she whines and he chuckles softly. 

“You are not, I’m coming to get you,” he says. 

He grabs a shirt from the dresser and steps out into the hall. 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” 

“Ping me your location,” he says, moving to grab a pair of sneakers from the entryway. “It’ll take me a bit. I’ve gotta drive out to get a tow truck before I can come to you. Are you okay? Do you want me to stay on the line?” 

Michael hears her sigh of relief and knows in his heart that this is the right thing to do, even if the idea of leaving Alex naked in bed on a Sunday is the last thing he truly wants to do. 

“You don’t need to,” she tries to say, but Michael doesn’t buy it. She sounds nervous, even though she’s the toughest, most self-sufficient woman he’s ever met. 

“Give me a minute, I’m just going to tell Alex where I’m going,” he says. 

He doesn’t bother hanging up the phone, but pulls it away from his ear. When he turns back to the hallway, Alex is already standing in it, leaning against the wall. He’s got his crutch in one hand and is rubbing his eyes with the other. He’s in nothing but a pair of boxers, looking adorably confused and groggy. 

“Where are you going?” Alex complains, reaching out his hand to try and get Michael to come back to bed. It’s tempting, and Michael wants to, but he can’t. 

“Liz needs my help,” he explains, gesturing towards the phone in his hand. 

Alex blinks a few times and his body tenses as he becomes more alert. 

“I thought she was still in California.” 

“She’s back. And I’ve gotta go get her. She’s on the side of the road, I can’t just leave her there.” 

“Did she say what was wrong?” Alex asks. “Why is she back? Did something happen? What about her research?” 

“It’s too early for so many questions,” he complains. 

“Sorry. What’s wrong?” he asks. 

Michael just shrugs. “She just said that her car broke down.” 

Alex nods and moves into the living room to grab a pair of sweatpants and t-shirt that had been left on the floor last night in their haste to undress each other. 

“What are you doing?” Michael asks, confused as he watches Alex sit down on the couch and start to dress himself. 

“Going with you,” he says, looking at Michael like he’s lost his mind. 

“But it’s Sunday,” he argues. “You’re supposed to stay in bed all day.” 

“No, it’s Sunday, I’m supposed to be with  _ you _ all day,” Alex counters 

“Smooth, Manes. Real smooth.” Michael smiles uncontrollably. He should protest. Let Alex go back to bed and assure him that he’ll be back in time for breakfast, but he doesn’t. 

Alex moves back into the bedroom and comes out holding his prosthesis, his liner and sock tucked under his arm. He moves towards the door. Michael gives him a curious look. 

“I’ll put it on in the car,” Alex explains. 

He sets the prosthesis down so that he can slip his shoe on. Once he’s done, he rubs his face one more time and runs his hands through his hair, making it stand on end even worse than before. He looks utterly adorable and Michael is going to make sure he knows it, just as soon as they get back home from picking Liz up. Because no matter what Alex might say, Sundays are most certainly for staying in bed all day…

“We’re just giving her a tow, right?” 

“Right,” Michael assures him, grabbing the keys from the hook. He helps Alex back up and takes the prosthesis from him so he can navigate better. Then, he opens the front door and follows Alex out, locking the door behind him. 

“Did you ping your location yet?” Michael brings the phone back up to his ear to ask. 

“You sneaky little brats,” Liz says, sounding shocked. “You got together and neither of you told me?!” 

Michael is confused for a moment before he remembers that Liz is on social media even less than he is. Meaning, she’s not on it at all. So she has no way of knowing that Alex is his boyfriend now. The few times they’ve talked since she’s been gone, they’ve stuck strictly to science related topics. He hadn’t thought to tell her, and clearly, neither had Alex. 

“Uh, yeah?” he says, unsure how to read her reaction. Alex is one of her best friends and Michael likes to think that Liz and he are friendly enough, but maybe she’ll be mad about the Maria of it all? 

“How long has this been going on?” she asks. Michael glances at Alex who takes the phone away from his ear and puts it on speaker. 

“How long has it been official or how long has it been going on?” Alex asks as Michael waits for Alex to get his seatbelt buckled before turning the truck on and pulling out of the drive. 

“Both. Obviously,” she says. 

“We got back together seven weeks and three days ago,” Alex says, causing Michael to do a double take. 

“You counted?” he whispers. Alex shrugs. 

“Nerd,” he teases, fondly. Alex just winks at him. 

He sets the phone between then and starts the process of putting on his leg. 

“We’ve been on and off since right before graduation,” Alex explains. 

“Maria told me that Michael was your museum guy but I didn’t know it was ever more than that night… wow.” Michael hears Liz whistle then rattle off something in Spanish and it’s far too early to try and translate. 

“Is she pinging us her location?” Michael asks. 

“Tell Michael that I’m trying but it won’t locate me. I barely have enough bars for this phone call to go through,” she explains. 

“And you all gave me a hard time when I suggested we all get chipped,” Alex says, giving Michael a look that has him rolling his eyes. 

“Because I’m not a lost puppy,” he grumbles. “Just help her figure out where she is,” he adds, effectively ending the discussion before they can get into that argument again. 

He zones out as Alex takes the lead on walking her through looking for mile markers to help them figure out her exact location. Which is good, because by the time they finish with that, they are at the junkyard and Michael is rushing into the office to grab the keys to the tow. 

“GPS is saying we’ll be there in 40 minutes, so you know that means Michael will get us there in 30,” Alex says, as they both climb into the tow truck. 

“Perfect, plenty of time for you to give me the gossip,” she says and Michael groans. 

“It’s too early for this, Ortecho,” he complains. 

“You’ve been banging my best friend for years and I didn’t know,” she argues and then her tone completely changes to one of concern when she says, “Did Maria know?” 

Alex grows visibility tense at the mention of Maria. While they are all working on being friends, there’s still a ways to go before things are 100% again, and Michael is well aware that there’s more that happened with Maria and Alex’s friendship than he’s entirely aware of. 

“Bring up Max, that’ll shut her up,” Michael says. 

It’s  _ not _ too early for Michael to translate the next thing that Liz says. He’s had all the Spanish curse words memorized since he was a kid. 

“I’m trying to be supportive here, you don’t have to be an ass,” she says. 

“Starting with congratulations and avoiding talk of exes is usually a good place to start,” Michael counters, refusing to feel bad. 

“Of course. I’m sorry guys,” she says, honestly sounding it. “I’m just surprised. Of course I’m happy for you both. So long as you’re both happy.” 

Michael looks over at Alex, who reaches out for his hand and smiles softly before saying, “Immensely.” 

Fuck. Michael loves Alex so much. He wants to wax poetically about it for hours, but he’ll save it for when Liz isn’t on the other end of the line… But when they get home, Michael is going to have some serious words with him. 

Alex licks his lips and Michael has to let go of his hand and look at the road if he wants to avoid crashing. He shakes his head, forcing himself to focus. 

“For the record, Ortecho,” Michael says. “Alex and I haven’t been banging for years. We make love.” 

That earns him an amused chuckle from Alex and a shocked one from Liz. 

“¡Ay! Mikey! Okay,” she says. “I didn’t realize.”

“Well now you do,” he says. 

He’s not really sure why it even matters. It never has before. For the past twelve years, he’s kept his relationship with Alex between he and Alex, and yet… It matters. It’s like Alex said last week, it’s annoying that people just assume their relationship couldn’t possibly be deeper than a consistent hookup. Like the fact that they are two men makes their love story somehow less than. 

“Well, I won’t push anymore,” she says. “Clearly it’s a sensitive subject. But just so we’re clear, whenever either of you are ready, I’d love to hear your story. You both deserve the world and if you found that in each other, then that’s wonderful.” 

“For somebody who doesn’t believe in romance or love, you seem to have no problem wishing it for others,” Alex says, an unspoken question lingering in the air. 

Liz sighs. “Yeah, well… It’s not that I don’t believe in love. It’s just that my love stripped me of my agency and then didn’t fight for me. So… Max can screw himself.” 

“Liz,” Michael says seriously, cutting off whatever sympathy Alex is clearly getting ready to respond with. “Take it from somebody who gets it more than you’ll ever know. The people you love will hurt you. They’ll make decisions without you that impact your life. It sucks. It hurts. But it doesn’t hurt more than being alone. Forgive him.” 

“But—” 

“No,” he cuts her off, before she can give an excuse. “Forgive him.” 

“He hasn’t even apologized,” she says. “He didn’t come after me. He just let me go.” 

“And you left,” he says, not unkindly, but he’s also not about to let her change the narrative. Michael did that too many times and it got him nowhere. He loves Max and… yeah, he won’t ever admit it to her, but he loves Liz too. So he won’t let her make the same mistakes he did. 

“Michael is right,” Alex cuts in. “Max has his own list of ways you wronged him too. And if you both let it, that list will keep you apart for years. It’s not worth it. Not when you really love somebody.” 

Alex unbuckles his seatbelt to slide over in the truck, so he’s right next to Michael and can lean his head on his shoulder. Michael wraps his arm around Alex and holds him close. 

Liz is silent on the other end, and that’s fine. Alex and Michael give her the time and space she needs to take in what they’ve just said. 

Alex reaches up to thread his fingers through the hand that’s holding him close. Michael places a kiss to the top of his head. 

“I love you,” he whispers. “Thank you for always coming home.” 

“Thank you for giving me a home to always come back to,” Alex whispers back. 

It takes them another hour and a half to get Liz’s car to the junkyard where Michael promises he’ll fix it tomorrow, even though it’s his day off. Then Liz refuses to take no for an answer, insisting on cooking them breakfast as a thank you. They get stuck at the Crashdown for a while, catching up with Rosa, Arturo, and Liz. By the time they are finally back home, it’s just after 11, and yet, it doesn’t take hardly any convincing to get Alex to climb back into bed with him so that Michael can make good on the promise he made to himself this morning. He spends the next several hours making sure Alex feels fucking worshiped like the vision he is. 


	8. Week 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a day late- I was on vacation and didn't get it moved from Tumblr to AO3. Enjoy!

Alex is dozing off in the late morning when he feels the mattress move beneath him and groans. 

“No,” he whines, feeling cold the moment that Michael moves away. He reaches his arm out, not bothering to open his eyes. 

They’d woken up early to watch the sunrise together out on the patio. Afterwards, Michael had talked Alex into a shared shower that quickly led to more. They’d both crawled back into bed afterwards and Alex has been sleeping ever since with Michael curled up at his side. 

“Sorry, but I gotta get up,” Michael says, leaving a kiss at the back of his neck. The mattress shifts again once Michael leaves the bed completely. 

Alex grumbles. 

“Where are you going?” He rolls over reluctantly, confused as he watches Michael pull clothes out of the dresser. 

“Isobel is on her way,” Michael says, throwing the clothes he’s gathered on the bed, save for his boxers, which he puts on. He looks over Alex, eyes trailing down his stomach to where the sheet is covering the rest of him, then back up to his face. “God, you look so good. It’s not fair.” 

“Come back to bed then,” he argues, holding out his hand, but Michael shakes his head. 

“Tempting as you always are, I can’t,” Michael says. “You know Iz. If I don’t get up, she’ll storm in here and neither of us want that.” 

Alex moves to sit up, rubbing his tired eyes. “It’s Sunday,” he complains through a yawn. 

“I told her that,” Michael explains, putting on a t-shirt. Alex whines as the reality sinks in that they really aren’t going to spend the rest of the day naked in bed. “Apparently that excuse stopped working when we had breakfast with Liz last week.” 

“Yeah, well did you tell her those were extenuating circumstances? Her car had broken down in the middle of the night,” he explains, swinging his legs around to hang off of the bed. He needs to reach out for the prosthetic and start getting ready, but he doesn’t have the energy. He feels like he’s moving through molasses. 

“She kept giving me shit about being family and how she wants to spend more time with us,” Michael says as he pulls on his jeans. 

“So we’re having breakfast with her,” he says with a sigh, trying not to sound as grumpy as he feels. He doesn’t want to get up. He wants to lay in bed all day, but if Michael isn’t going to lay with him, what’s the point? 

“She’s bringing bagels,” Michael says, trying to sound cheery.

Alex falls back into his pillow and groans. He doesn’t really care what she’s bringing over. She’s interrupting their Sunday. 

“It’s okay that she’s coming over, right?” Michael asks, shifting nervously. 

Alex is about to complain, when his mind flashes to a different time when Isobel had interrupted their morning together with bagels. And it clicks why Michael is looking so awkward. 

“Of course it’s okay,” he sits back up. 

Michael doesn’t look convinced. They’ve been back together for two months and it’s been such a seamless journey that sometimes Alex forgets that they both still have lingering insecurities to work through. 

“Hey, I don’t care,” he reassures him, reaching out his hand for Michael. He is relieved when his boyfriend takes it and allows Alex to pull him closer, until he’s standing between Alex’s thighs. “Isobel is family and family is always welcome.” 

Michael runs his fingers through Alex’s hair and he can’t help but lean into the touch. “You’re sure it’s okay that she comes  _ here _ ?” he asks. 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Michael gives him a knowing look and Alex adds, “People know that we are together now. We aren’t hiding it. I’m okay with it.  _ More _ than okay with it.” 

“Okay.” 

“I’m just being a brat because I’m tired,” he admits. “Sorry.” 

Michael accepts his apology with a kiss. When he pulls back, Michael runs his thumb over his cheeks, studying his face carefully. It should annoy him. It does when anyone else looks at him like that. But this is Michael, and he trusts him with all of the ugly parts of himself. 

“Your meds?” Michael asks. 

Alex nods his head. He thinks that’s probably it. He’s not usually this exhausted and there hadn’t been anything special about this week to make him so. But his doctor had warned him this could be a side effect of changing his PTSD medication. 

Michael gives him a soft smile, then kisses his forehead. “I’ve got Isobel. Once she leaves, we can lounge around all day and watch movies.” 

“I thought you wanted to check out the Mexican Market,” he says. He doesn’t want to be the reason why they cancel their plans. He hates letting people down. 

“Nah.” Michael shrugs like it’s not a big deal. “I’d rather curl up with you on the couch any day,” he says and Alex believes him. 

He moves away and heads to the dresser to grab his deodorant. Alex yawns as he stretches out his back until it pops. 

There is a knock at their door. Soon after they hear the door open and Isobel calls out, “I hope everyone’s wearing pants!” 

Michael snorts and rolls his eyes. 

“I swear we lock that door for this very reason,” Alex grumbles. He’s most certainly  _ not _ wearing pants. He’s not wearing anything at all, in fact. 

“She’s telekinetic now, remember?” Michael says before looking him over and giving him a fond smile. “Take your time. Come out if and when you’re ready. She won’t be offended if you don’t.” 

And with that, Michael slips out the door, careful not to open it too wide and give Isobel a show, and he immediately closes the door behind him. Alex listens to him greet his sister and laugh as Isobel teases him. There aren’t many people that Michael interacts with where he lets his guard down completely, but Isobel is one of them and Alex appreciates that about her. Even if he doesn’t entirely appreciate her crashing their Sunday morning date. 

He lets out a deep sigh, resigned to his fate, before moving to get himself together. Michael may have given him permission to stay in bed, and perhaps he would have preferred that option, but as Michael goes, so goes Alex’s nation. He gets himself dressed and grabs his crutch. He doesn’t trust himself completely on his feet today.

He shuffles out of the room and towards the kitchen, where he can hear Isobel and Michael laughing. The act of getting dressed has made him even more tired. When he enters, he barely manages a greeting for Isobel before he wraps his arms around Michael from behind and leans his head against him, closing his eyes again. 

Michael squeezes one of the arms around him in greeting and says, “Isobel brought cinnamon raisin. Do you want me to toast it for you?” 

Despite the fact that cinnamon raisin bagels are his favorite, and he can see that Isobel even went to the fancy bakery on the other side of town, “Mmm,” is the only response he gives. He really needs to talk to his doctor about these new meds. He doesn’t like how they make him feel.

“You two are sickeningly domestic,” Isobel says from her spot on their counter. 

Alex can’t see Michael’s face but he can hear the smile in his voice when he says, “Thank you.” 

“How long have you guys lived here?” she asks. 

“I don’t live here,” Michael says, and Isobel snorts.

Alex is glad his face is hidden in Michael’s shirt so that he doesn’t have to hide his smile. Michael most certainly does live here. He sleeps here every night. They’ve just never talked about it. It just sort of happened. One day Alex looked up and all of Michael’s stuff was here and they’d stopped discussing who was going to sleep where, when. It was just decided that they would always stay here.

“I stopped by Sanders the other day looking for you,” she says. “Your airstream is practically empty.” 

“The airstream isn’t empty,” Michael says defensively. He moves to grab a knife out of the drawer and Alex follows him, not letting go. “It’s still got stuff in it.” 

“Okay,” Isobel says in that voice she uses when she isn’t buying Michael’s bullshit. 

“I haven’t moved in,” Michael says. “It’s just easier to keep my clothes here if I’m sleeping here every night.” 

“Right,” Isobel says through a laugh. 

Michael tenses and is about to argue further, but Alex squeezes him tighter and places a kiss to the back of his neck. 

“I moved in last August,” Alex tells her, refocusing the conversation before it can get derailed by Michael’s temper. 

Michael turns around in his arms carefully. Alex loosens his grip and steps back, leaving a hand on Michael’s waist and accepting his bagel with his other. 

“You’ve lived here for over a year?” Isobel asks, looking around the room with a critical eye. 

“Yes. Why?” he asks defensively as Michael leads them all into the dining room so that they can sit down and Alex can get off of his leg. 

“Nothing, it just is a little barren,” Isobel says. “You should let me come decorate.” 

Michael’s hand wraps around his waist while he uses his telekinesis to move Alex’s chair closer to him. His hand finds its way under his shirt and rests against his back, rubbing soothing circles. 

“No,” Michael says before Alex has a chance to say anything. 

“Come on,” Isobel whines. “I’m an excellent interior designer. Look at Max’s place.” 

“Max doesn’t even have curtains,” Michael scoffs. “Whatever we need, we can handle it.” 

For a boy who claims not to live here, Michael uses the word ‘we’ pretty liberally, Alex thinks but doesn’t dare say. He loves having Michael here every day. He loves coming home to him after a long day at work. He enjoys waking up next to him in the mornings. He loves playfully bickering over who’s going to take out the trash and being able to watch Michael get lost into some complex equation. He gets a thrill whenever he walks into a room to see Michael starting some new home improvement project. He smiles at the way Michael’s shoes always end up kicked off in the hallway randomly instead of neatly set by the door like Alex’s. 

Alex loves that Michael lives here, but he’s not going to say anything to him about it. Not yet. He’s worried that it will scare Michael off. Michael had been the one to say they should take it slow. And while nothing about what they are doing could be considered slow, Alex doesn’t want to point that out and have him freak out about it being too much domesticity too quickly or something. Because Alex doesn’t think he’d be able to go back to how things used to be at this point. Not now that he’s experienced what it’s like to have all of Michael. 

“If you can handle it, why isn’t there anything on the walls?” Isobel smirks. 

“Because we’ve been working on more important things like retiling the bathroom,” Michael explains. “Once I get that done, I’ll work on some pieces for us.” 

“You will?” Alex asks. Michael hasn’t told him of any plans. 

Michael blushes but doesn’t backpedal. “I’ve got some ideas.” 

“Can’t wait,” he says, honestly, earning him a smile from Michael. 

Alex finishes his bagel as Isobel and Michael talk about work. Once he’s done, he leans his weight more on Michael and rests his head on his shoulder, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep to the sound of their usual banter. 

When Alex wakes up, he’s laying in bed with Michael’s warm breath tickling his neck as he snores ever so softly. He has no idea how he got here. He has no memory of Isobel leaving or Michael moving him, which is odd. He’s always been a light sleeper. He makes a mental note to call the doctor tomorrow morning to talk about his medication, but for now, he snuggles closer to Michael and allows himself to enjoy the brilliance of a nap with the one he loves. 


	9. Week 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can blame this one entirely on @cosmicclownboy and her obsession with Malex+Dog that has led to a lot of long conversations on the necessity to get Malex a dog. If anyone has any requests for this verse, let me know! I’m currently accepting prompts.

**Week 9**

Alex is in the bathroom shaving when Michael comes in, fully dressed and full of an excited energy not usually reserved for their lazy Sundays together. 

“What’s up?” Alex asks, looking at him through the reflection. 

“Hurry up, we’re going to the Mexican Market today,” Michael says with a huge smile on his face, which confuses Alex even more than the fact that his boyfriend is already dressed. Usually, Alex is the first one ready and Michael is the one to drag his feet. 

“I know,” he says, looking down at his phone to check the time. It’s barely nine. The market is open until two. “What’s the rush?” 

“I just want to get there before things start selling out,” Michael says, bouncing on his feet. 

“Like what?” 

They’ve already pre-ordered a tres leches cake and an order of pan de elote from their favorite booth that nearly always sells out immediately upon opening. And if they are planning on eating their body weight in tamales from Mr. Hernández today like they’d planned, he’s not sure why they need to get there well before lunch. 

“Just… stuff,” he says vaguely before waving him along. “Let’s go.” 

Alex rolls his eyes and laughs. 

“Alright, fine. Can I at least finish my face first?” He’s only halfway done. He’ll look pretty ridiculous if he goes anywhere with the right side of his face completely shaved and two days worth of stubble on his left side. 

Michael reluctantly agrees before walking back out of the bathroom, explaining that he’s going to make Alex’s coffee so they can save time. Which is really a win in and of itself because Michael’s coffee is always better than when Alex makes it. 

Alex does his best to hurry through his morning routine, but there’s honestly only so much that he can do. Michael sits on the bed patiently watching him. Or, perhaps not patiently, but at least he doesn’t say anything to rush him along. Instead, he continually glances back at his phone as his leg bounces up and down anxiously. Alex works through his PT exercises as quickly as he can. He would skip the entire thing, but after missing it yesterday, he can’t afford to do so again. Michael wouldn’t ask him to, he’s the one always lecturing Alex about making sure he does them. 

Eventually, Alex is dressed and Michael is breathing a sigh or relief as they both climb into his truck together. Michael’s fingers tap at the steering wheel, and Alex would be worried about the anxiety radiating off of him if it weren’t for the smile on Michael’s face. He’s proud but trying to hide it. Whatever he’s got up his sleeve, Alex is going to enjoy it. 

Michael surprises him often. He’s always saying something romantic off the cuff or doing something so amazingly charming without realizing it. But rarely does Michael actually plan surprises for Alex. So, rather than ask the million questions he has running through his head or try and guess at what is going on, Alex decides to just go with it. 

They pull into the parking lot of the Pony, happy to see that it’s crowded. The market has been growing steadily each week and has been a much needed financial success for Maria and many of the local vendors who pay for a booth each week. They circle the lot a time or two before they find a spot all the way in the back. They get out of the car and Michael takes his hand happily as they walk towards the booths together. 

“We should stop by and say hello to Mrs. Delgado,” he says, gesturing over towards the row of artists. Their elderly neighbor has just recently started selling some of her pieces and Alex wants to ask how it’s going. Michael hums noncommittal though, and pulls Alex in the opposite direction. 

He trails after Michael, who is clearly on a mission. He waves sadly at several of their favorite booths, promising to come back later, since Michael clearly isn’t stopping for anything. And then, just as he’s staring longingly at the esquites, Michael stops suddenly and Alex walks right into him. He follows Michael’s gaze to find he’s staring into a makeshift pen of puppies. Three to be exact. 

They are adorable and immediately pull at Alex’s heart. 

He kneels down to get a good look at the puppies, who all jump excitedly at the pen, trying to reach Alex. He glances around and notices that there are several pens set up, all with dogs in them. The booth is one from the local shelter. 

The man in charge of the booth encourages Alex to pick one of the puppies up. As if Alex is going to say no to that. He’s never met a dog he didn’t immediately want to keep. 

Alex picks up the smallest of the bunch. He’s black with the tiniest spot of white around his nose and forehead. He’s just so inexplicably soft. The puppy licks at his jaw as Alex laughs, pulling the dog even closer to his chest. He’s in love. It’s been less than a minute, and Alex is head over heels in love. 

“What are we doing here?” he asks, turning to look at Michael, who’s smiling at him fondly. 

“That,” Michael says, pointing at him. “That look you have right now is what we are doing here.” 

The puppy begins to squirm in his arms, trying to get him to play, so Alex brings his attention back to the dog. “What do you mean?” he asks. 

“You’ve been down for the last few weeks,” Michael says, moving over to pet the dog as well. “And while we wait for your meds to even out, I figured dogs are supposed to be soothing or something, right?” 

Alex pauses, looking up at Michael confused, but trying not to get his hopes up. “I thought you didn’t want a dog.” 

“I don’t,” Michael says. “But that doesn’t mean we can hang out with them for a day, right?” 

It might. Because now that Alex has one in his arms, there’s no way in hell he isn’t taking it home with him. He’s utterly perfect. 

Michael comes over to kneel beside Alex and nervously pets the dog in his hands. Alex watches as Michael’s smile grows as his shoulders start to relax. He’s seeing the appeal. Alex helps Michael hold the dog himself, and while he’s distracted, Alex snaps a picture. He can use it later when they inevitably get into a debate over whether or not they should get a puppy. Michael clearly is, despite all of his protesting, a dog person. 

While Michael is bonding with the boy, Alex takes it upon himself to pull his sister out of the pen for some love. She’s another black one, but has more white to her face than her brother. 

“How old are they?” Alex asks. 

“Fifteen weeks,” the man says. “All of them have been cleared by the vet and are ready for adoption.” 

Alex’s eyes move to Michael who immediately shakes his head in a half hearted protest. 

“Puppies are so much work.” 

Alex holds his puppy up to his face, making sure that Michael can see the puppy’s dopey smile. “Look at her,” he says. 

Michael rolls his eyes, but the smile on his face tells Alex that he’s making headway. They are coming home with a dog today, the only question is, which one. 

Michael puts his dog back in the pen and picks up the last puppy. Another boy. This time tan with a much wider stripe of white up his nose and around til about his shoulders. 

“What kind of dogs are they?” Michael asks the man. 

“Pitbull.”

Michael freezes and Alex thinks for a moment he’s going to say something negative, but instead he turns to give Alex a really sad look. “So they’re not gonna find a home, right?” 

“Depends,” the man says. “We were able to adopt out five of their siblings earlier this month, but these three weren’t as healthy and took a bit longer to perk up. We haven’t had any takers yet. But you never know. Not everyone believes the rumors about pitbulls.” 

That seems to relax Michael momentarily. 

“What’s the deal with their mom?” Michael asks. 

“Ah, that’s the tragedy,” the man says. “She was brought in pregnant. Traumatized. We have no background on her. She doesn’t eat. Doesn’t socialize well. She was alright with the puppies, but not great with others.”

“So what happened to her?” Alex asks, putting his puppy back in the pen and watching her run around with her brother. Michael hasn’t let go of the boy in his hands. He’s holding it close to his chest as the puppy closes his eyes and relaxes completely into the touch. Alex sneaks yet another picture of what he’s sure is about to be their dog with the way Michael is holding it so protectively. 

“They’re putting her to sleep in a few days,” the man says. 

“Why?” Michael says, standing up so quickly that the puppy in his arms whines, and Michael naturally goes to calm it. Alex is surprised how much watching Michael play daddy to this puppy affects him. 

“She was clearly abused. The vets don’t think she’ll do well in a home.” 

The look Michael gives him is one of clear distress. 

“She’s violent?” Alex asks, standing up as well. 

“More antisocial than outright violent,” the man shrugs. “Incredibly undernourished. If she doesn’t start eating, she won’t last. She had a hard time nursing.” 

Alex’s heart breaks. 

“We’ll take her,” Michael says. 

“What?” Of all the things Alex expected Michael to say, that was the last. 

“You haven’t even met her,” the guy says, equally as shocked. “She might not even make it that long. Wouldn’t you rather have a puppy?” 

Alex isn’t going to lie, though it sounds crazy, it feels right. But still, they should probably talk about this. 

“Can we have a moment?” Alex asks. 

“Sure.” The guy walks away to go talk to a kid who’s eyeing one of the other pens. 

“So they just separated the puppies from her mom and left her to die?” Michael says. He’s clearly agitated. Alex grabs the puppy out of his hands and drops him back into the pen with his siblings, just in case Michael’s powers get away from him. 

“I mean, it’s sad that she’s dying, I agree she needs a home,” Alex says, reaching out to put his hands on Michael’s hips. The touch seems to ground him. “But you knew these guys were eligible for adoption. Where did you think their mom was?”

“I don’t know,” Michael shrugs, defensively. “I didn’t really think about it. So they’re just gonna kill their mom?” 

Alex doesn’t like it either, but this is more than that. The look in his eyes is more distressed than some animal rights issue he’s only just learned about merits. The hurt in his eyes is personal. 

Alex gets it. He knows where Michael’s head is at and Alex empathizes with him. Of course he’s identifying hard with the situation. 

“Alex, we can’t let them do this,” he says, the question clear in his eyes. And Alex agrees. They’ll take the mom in. It’s the right thing to do. He nods his agreement. 

Michael steps out of Alex’s reach and waves the man back over. 

“We’ll take them all,” Michael says, causing Alex to do a double take. 

“What?” he asks. Clearly they are not on the same page here. That’s not what Alex was agreeing to. 

“I mean, we can’t just let them be orphans,” Michael says, waving at the pen with the three puppies. Their three puppies, apparently. 

Alex looks down at each of them, they are all jumping at the pen trying to get out. Each one of them perfect in their own way. Alex looks back at Michael looking for any sign of doubt on his face, there’s none. 

This is the craziest thing they’ve probably ever done, but also the best. 

“We’re taking them all,” Alex says. 

“I’ll make some calls,” the guy says with a laugh as he walks away. 

Several hours later, after a trip to the shelter followed by a chaotic trip to the pet store that Alex hopes to never repeat, they are home and debating names. Mom is in their bedroom, hidden under their bed and they’ve decided to leave her there for now as she adjusts to the new environment. Alex is laying on the couch with the boys curled up on his stomach. Their sister is curled up on Michael’s lap and sleeping. They’ve been debating names since they decided to take all of the dogs home. Alex is dead set on Luke, Leia, and Han for the puppies and Padme for mom, but Michael has problems with naming a pair of siblings after a pair of soulmates. As if it would be the first time Star Wars was incestious. 

Michael pulls out his phone and takes a picture of Alex with their puppies. It had taken less than a few hours for MIchael to go from ‘I don’t want a dog’ to ‘I’m a proud doggy dad and am going to post about them endlessly on Instagram.’ 

“They’re perfect,” Alex says, running his hands over both of his boys. In a single day, he’d become both a father and a grandfather and he’s surprisingly okay with this. He’s always wanted a dog, ever since he was a kid. Now he has four. 

“I don’t even care what we name them, so long as they never grow up,” Michael says.

And that’s how they end up settling on the names: Bell for mom, and Peter, John, and Wendy for the babies. It’s kind of perfect actually. Alex has always felt like Michael and he were the lost boys. Now they all have a home. 

****

As a special treat- meet the newest Manes-Guerins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are <3


	10. Week 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael and Alex spend a lazy Sunday morning with their new doggie family who won't let them sleep.

Alex loves his dog family, he really does. 

He loves how Bell lives under their bed but will sneak out once they are all in bed for food in the middle of the night. She thinks she’s slick, but really, she’s loud as hell every time she pushes the door open and it slams against the wall. It was terrifying the first day or two, but Alex and Michael have gotten used to it, thankfully. They are just happy she’s eating, even if she’s still nervous enough to never leave her spot under the bed apart from midnight food runs and bathroom breaks. 

He loves that Wendy is fiercely independent. He loves that she does her own thing most of the time but will force her brothers out of their comfort zones. She’s a troublemaker and is always getting into things she’s not supposed to, but she’s brave and curious and he loves that about her. 

He loves that John is so tiny and cuddly and glued to Michael’s side practically all the time. He’s clumsy and awkward, but it’s endlessly adorable. He loves how Michael has taken to carrying him around in his shirt like some kitten because he’s always shivering and cold. 

And then there’s Peter. Alex isn’t supposed to have favorites, but Peter is without a doubt Alex’s dog. He is always fighting for Alex’s attention and demanding cuddles. He’s started glaring at Michael whenever he tries to kiss Alex. He’s overprotective and grumpy, but an excellent snuggler. Honestly, he reminds everyone of Michael so much that Isobel has already ordered a black cowboy hat for Peter to wear. Michael of course hates it as much as Peter does, and the dual glares they both give whenever that hat comes out only provides further proof that Peter is Michael’s dog clone. 

Alex was meant to be a dog daddy and loves all four of his babies endlessly. What he doesn’t love is the fact that his children refuse to sleep through the night. Alex has enough issues of his own getting a solid night sleep without the help of his littlest children keeping him awake all night. He’s tired. Bone deep tired. All he wants is an hour of uninterrupted sleep, but that’s not in the cards for this morning. They are at it again. He can hear the wailing coming from the kitchen where they’ve been keeping the puppies contained while they still work on puppy-proofing the rest of the house. 

Recognizing that he’s not about to get any more sleep for awhile, Alex rolls himself out of bed and grabs his crutches. Slowly but surely he makes his way down the hall and towards the smell of coffee. When he reaches the kitchen, he smiles at the sight of Michael sitting in front of the stove, covered in barking puppies and looking as exhausted as he feels.

“What’s the use of having an alien boyfriend if he can’t use his powers to block out sound?” Alex asks. 

The sound of his voice gets the puppies attention and they all rush to the baby gate, climbing over each other in an attempt to get his attention. 

“Trust me, I’ve tried,” Michael says through a large yawn. 

Alex struggles with getting the gate open and keeping the puppies contained with his crutches before Michael uses his powers to gently hold the kids back and open the gate for Alex. He sends him a grateful smile before moving into the kitchen and shutting the gate behind him. His children jump at his feet and he moves carefully until he’s able to settle down in Michael’s arms and the children climb into his lap. 

“I take back everything I’ve ever said about adopting an infant. When we get a kid, we are making sure they are sleeping through the night and potty trained,” Michael says. 

Alex nods in agreement, taking Michael’s coffee out of his hands and drinking it. Michael glares at him but Alex chooses to ignore it, holding the mug close to his chest with zero intention of giving it back. Michael grumbles before using his powers to pour himself another cup. Alex runs his hand over each of the kids as he snuggles into Michael’s side for warmth. He hadn’t put any clothes on before coming out of the bedroom and the kitchen is significantly colder than the bedroom was. His boxers aren’t cutting it. 

“We didn’t have any accidents this morning,” Michael says. 

“That’s good news.” He laughs as Peter tries to push himself between Alex and Michael, using his head to try and force Michael away. As if his tiny body has the strength to move Michael. Alex picks him up and places him on his other side. “Hey, your daddies need snuggle time, too.” 

“I hope you know that he’s the loudest one,” Michael informs him, giving him a playful glare. Ever since they realized that John was Michael’s and Peter was Alex’s, they’ve been teasing each other about whose puppy is better. 

“Hey, he’s not the one who chewed up the wood piece you were working on,” Alex says with a pointed look. 

“Nope, he’s the little shit who almost swallowed a battery yesterday.” 

Alex groans. “We seriously need to puppy proof this place today.”

Michael practically whines. “But it’s Sunday. Can’t I do it tomorrow while you’re at work?”

Alex is about to agree when they hear a clattering sound and they look up to find that Wendy has somehow managed to get one of the cabinets open and has pulled out one of the pots already and is climbing into the cabinet to explore. 

“You were saying?” Alex says trying hard not to laugh. 

“I take back everything I said about Peter, she’s the worst one,” Michael says, crawling across the floor to pull her out of the cabinet before she can make her way to the toaster and start chewing on the cord. 

“See,” he says, turning to Peter to pet him. “Tell your daddy that you’re a good boy.” 

Petter looks up at him with what Alex swears is a smile and practically falls over himself as he wags his tail hard. 

Michael pulls Wendy out of the cabinet and points at her as he sternly says, “No.” 

Wendy doesn’t seem phased in the slightest. She tilts her head at Michael, watching him for a minute, before she turns around and heads to another cabinet, working to get it open as well. 

“I give up,” Michael says, crawling back over to Alex before laying his head in his lap. “I’ll go to the store and buy what we need today.” 

Alex places his mug on the stove behind him, the last thing he needs is a puppy hyped up on caffeine. Then he runs his hands through Michael’s curls and Michael moans happily. 

“Maybe you don’t have to leave for a while though,” Alex says. He watches as John climbs over his arm to settle himself practically on top of Michael’s face. To Michael’s credit, he doesn’t even move. Michael’s breathing is evening out, and while the kitchen floor isn’t an ideal place for a nap, Alex thinks that he’s got the right idea. The kids have stopped barking for the time being and he’s warm and comfortable here with Michael and three of his four children. He closes his eyes and tries to enjoy the moment of peace. 

Then a bird chirps outside and Peter starts barking. 

“Mother F-er!” Michael exclaims, sitting up, catching John as he tumbles off of him. And all Alex can do is laugh. 

He’s tired. So insanely tired. But he loves his family and he wouldn’t change a thing. 

\---------------

In case anyone wanted to see what Peter looks like as he's trying to constantly push Michael away from Alex because he's a brat that doesn't like sharing. A lovable brat, but a brat all the same <3


	11. Week 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Maria haven't been the same since Michael and Maria broke up... Michael wants to fix that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was posted in 2 parts (Sunday morning // Sunday evening) on Tumblr, but I'm including it as one part here. Enjoy!

**Sunday Morning:**

It’s Sunday morning and somehow, they’ve been roped into attending brunch with everyone, though Michael doesn’t really understand how. They’ve made it pretty clear to everyone that Sundays are off limits for any and everything unless somebody is dying. And looking around the table, nobody is suffering from a medical emergency. 

Yet, here they are. Sitting around Isobel’s patio with the entire “I know an alien” fan club while Kyle tells some story that Michael isn’t interested in. He looks over to Alex and glares, not understanding why they’re here instead of in bed together like they should be. All he knows is that he’d been woken up by Alex and told to get dressed. When he’d complained, Alex had made it up to him with an incredibly enjoyable blow job, but the positive effects of his orgasm wore off the moment he stepped into Isobel’s backyard and saw just how many people are here. 

He loves them all. He does. But he also knows them all, and there is no way they are getting out of here in the hour that Alex promised him this would last. And they can’t even use the excuse that they have to go home to take care of the dogs, because Isobel had demanded that they bring them along. Currently, Bell is at home, still not up for leaving the house. The rest of their fur babies are each being held and spoiled by their aunts and uncles. So no, Michael is about as likely to pull Alex away from the passionate conversation Liz is having with him as he is to be able to pull John out of Max’s arms or Wendy out of Isobel’s. 

So here he is. Grumpy after a long week of rude customers and one transmission problem too many. He sits in silence, eating his omelette and listening to his family discuss their own stressful week. And so he’s able to notice several things. 

For starters, he notices the way that Liz keeps glancing over at Max with a smile and the way that he keeps winking back at her. So he knows that those two idiots have gotten back together. He’ll never admit it, but he’s relieved. Max deserves some happiness in his life and Liz is good for him. He’s glad they finally decided to forgive each other for all the drama several months back. They’d both been idiots and caused a lot of pain, but hopefully they’ll be able to move forward and do better, like Michael is moving forward with Alex and doing better. 

Then there’s the other thing, the more important thing… the way that Alex keeps looking over at Maria with a look that can only be described as longing. 

Michael feels bad. He doesn’t know the entire extent of the weirdness that has happened between them, but he knows he’s to blame for at least a chunk of it. Alex and Maria still talk, but there’s been this noticeable tension between them ever since Maria broke up with him. Alex won’t talk to him about it and neither will Maria, so Michael is at a loss as to how to fix it. 

Michael leans over to whisper into Alex’s ear, “You should talk to her.” 

Alex shakes his head. 

“She doesn’t want to talk to me.” 

Somehow, Michael doubts that is true. He’s known Maria for long enough to know that she adores Alex. She also isn’t one to avoid confrontation. Alex on the other hand is notorious for avoiding conflict. He’s gotten better at it, but between the two of them, Michael is willing to bet that Alex is the one avoiding having whatever difficult conversation they clearly need to have. 

“Maybe she doesn’t think you want to talk to her?” 

“Maybe you should stick to fixing cars instead of trying to fix people,” Alex says. He’s smiling at him, but Michael can hear the bite in the words and raises his hands in surrender. He’s certainly not going to spend his Sunday fighting with Alex, even if he feels like he should push. If Alex wants to sit here missing his best friend who is sitting less than six feet from him, let him. 

“Do you see Peter right now?” Alex asks, changing the subject and Michael lets him. He glances over at where Kyle has Peter in his lap and has to laugh at the way that Peter very slowly puts his head on Kyle’s plate and steals a bite of egg without Kyle noticing. 

“I’m pretty sure that he’s eaten 2 whole pieces of bacon and half that omelette,” Alex tells him. 

“He definitely learned that level of thievery from you,” he teases. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Guerin,” Alex says, to which Michael snorts. He reaches over and takes his own mug out of Alex’s hand. Alex had stolen it earlier while Michael wasn’t looking. 

“No?” he asks, giving him an amused look as he sees the mug is nearly empty. 

“Nope,” Alex says with an adorable smile that has Michael rolling his eyes. 

He downs the last little bit of coffee before standing up and heading inside for more. 

“Pour me a mug?” Alex says, causing Michael to let out a surprised laugh. 

“Pour it yourself,” he says, though they both know that he’s coming back with two mugs. 

Michael is standing in the kitchen adding cream to Alex’s coffee when Liz comes inside carrying a handful of plates. 

“I see you finally took my advice on Max. Only took you a month. I thought you were supposed to be the smart Ortecho,” he teases. 

Liz rolls her eyes. “What makes you think I took your advice on Max?” 

“I don’t know,” he says, peeking through the blinds to point at where Max is sitting with the biggest smile. “The dopey look on his face? He hasn’t looked like that since before you left for California.” 

She moves beside him to peek out the window as well and once she does, she practically swoons. He rolls his eyes. As subtle as a sledgehammer, those two idiots. Did they really think nobody would notice? 

“You gonna try and tell me you aren’t back together?” he asks, crossing his arms and fixing her with an amused smirk. 

“Fine. We are. But what makes you think it was your advice that did it?” she asks, using her hip to push him out of the way so that she can wash off the plates in her hand. 

“Was it?” he asks and her glare is answer enough. He laughs. “I’m glad you two got back together. I don’t think I could have handled another one of Max’s sad drunken monologues.” 

She pulls up the blinds to let the natural light in before turning on the sink and starting the process of washing the dishes. 

“They’ll fix things too,” she says, handing him a clean but wet plate. Apparently he’s drying. 

“Who?” he asks, grabbing a towel from the stove and drying the plate before putting it back in the cabinet. 

“Alex and Maria.” 

Michael doesn’t say anything at first. He doesn’t think that Alex will appreciate it if he tries to get details out of Liz that he hasn’t been ready to share himself yet. But he wants so badly to ask her what she knows. 

“They aren’t fighting over you,” she tells him. 

He gives her a look. Does she think he’s a complete idiot? 

“They aren’t fighting  _ entirely _ over you,” she corrects herself and that sounds more accurate.

“Why are they fighting at all?” he asks, even though he knows he shouldn’t. 

Liz looks at him out of the side of her eye for a moment or two before sighing deeply, clearly resigning herself to something. 

“They got into a fight while she was still in the hospital,” Liz explains as she continues to do the dishes and pass him the finished ones to dry. “It started over you. Alex thought that Maria broke up with you because he got kidnapped and you went after him. He felt guilty. Then he found out that she was refusing to wear the bracelet, and that’s when things got heated. Alex and Maria don’t fight often, but when they do it isn’t pretty. They both said some things they regret.” 

“Alex is mad at her because she won’t wear the bracelet?” he asks. 

It makes sense. Alex doesn’t like being out of control and Maria playing with fire would certainly press at those buttons. Michael gets it. He too has had to wrestle with figuring out how to accept Maria’s stupid decision to risk brain damage just so that she can have access to her visions. The risk far outweighs the reward, but Michael could never figure out how to get her to see that. 

Or maybe he hadn’t tried hard enough. After all, his issue isn’t about control, it’s a fear of abandonment. And he’d always been too afraid that Maria would leave him to push her hard enough on the issue. Alex wouldn’t have had that fear though. He would have pushed and pushed and…

Yeah. It doesn’t surprise Michael in the least that they’d ended up having a blow up about it. 

Liz finishes the last of the dishes and hands it to him, shutting off the sink and turns to lean against the counter and look at him. 

“Maria broke up with you because of the bracelet. But mostly, because she knew at the end of the day that you would always love Alex more even if you weren’t planning on ever admitting it,” she explains.

“Okay…” He’s not sure why she’s telling him about his own breakup. He knows exactly why Maria broke up with him. He was there. 

“ _ Alex _ thinks that the reason you are with him and not Maria is because of the bracelet.” 

Michael takes a moment to process that, trying to figure out what she’s getting at. 

“Alex doesn’t want much,” she continues. “He never has. He learned not to expect much as a kid and doesn’t aim high. He wants Maria safe. She’s his best friend. Through everything, he’s always had her to rely on. So he can’t lose her. But he also needs you. Can you see how those two things might be in competition with each other?” 

“He thinks he’s my second choice?” he asks. 

Liz looks at him like he’s an idiot and maybe he is. Because here he’d been thinking that everything has been going great between the two of them. How could Alex honestly still doubt what they have together? 

“That’s why he wouldn’t tell me what they fought about,” he says. Alex isn’t the kind of guy who voices his insecurities easily. Of course he wouldn’t want Michael to know that he feels like he’s a consolation prize. 

“The two of them will work themselves out in their own time, they always do,” she says. “But it would be easier for them to fix what they broke if you fix what you broke first.” 

His body tenses and he opens his mouth, about to defend himself when she holds up her hand. “Talk to Alex. If you want him to make up with Maria sooner than later, then you should make sure that he knows he doesn’t have to choose between either of you.” 

“Even if I convince him that he’s not a second choice, it still won’t change the fact that Maria is gonna wear the bracelet when she wants to and not a moment sooner. It won’t fix the issue,” he argues. 

“Perhaps,” she agrees. “But it would be one less thing weighing heavy on him and making that first step back towards her harder to take.” 

She pats his shoulder in sympathy before walking towards the door, stopping once her hand is on the handle and turning back towards him. “That was my sisterly advice to you. So we are even now. Sí?”

Michael shakes his head. “That’s not how this works, Ortecho.” She gives him a curious look and he continues. “We’re family, right? We don’t have to keep score.” 

She smiles at him brightly and Michael can kind of see how Max becomes completely hopeless around her. “I never wanted a brother, for the record. But I guess you’ll do, Mikey.” 

He groans, grabbing the two coffees off of the counter before following her out onto the patio. “Mikey? Still?” 

“Always and forever.” 

She heads over towards where Max is currently playing a game of bags with Jenna while Rosa stands beside Max, giving him shit, trying to mess up his game. Michael heads in the opposite direction where Alex is currently sitting in a chair, watching as Maria and Isobel have what looks like a photoshoot with their puppies. 

“Do I even want to know?” he asks, reaching over Alex’s shoulder to place the mug in his hand and a kiss to the top of his head before sitting down at the empty seat next to him. 

“Our puppies are Insta-famous apparently,” Alex says, taking a sip of the coffee and smiling in a way that makes Michael feel all warm inside.

“I don’t remember consenting to that,” he says. 

“Apparently Isobel started photographing them weeks ago and they have a following.” Alex hands Michael his phone and he scrolls through the pictures that Isobel has been posting under the Instagram handle @FaithTrustPittieDust. She’s been posting pictures on the regular, apparently. He scowls when he sees a picture of Peter wearing a tiny black cowboy hat. 

“Well she’s banned from puppy-sitting,” he says, handing the phone back to Alex. 

“One hundred percent,” Alex agrees, pocketing the phone before shifting around so he could look at Michael more fully. “You were in there a long time…”

“I got distracted, sorry,” he says, nervously. Unsure how Alex is going to react to the news that they’d been talking about him. However, he knows that it’ll be better to just be upfront about it. “I was talking to Liz,” he says with a meaningful look. 

“Okay?” He looks confused. 

“She told me about the fight with Maria.” 

Alex grumbles and shakes his head. “She has no concept of minding her own business. Never has.” 

“I want to talk about this,” he says. Alex looks around the yard at their family and he sits up in his seat. His body visibly tenses and he prepares for a fight. It’s been awhile since Alex got defensive like this around him, but he still recognizes the signs of Alex closing himself off. “But we can talk later when we are alone.” 

Alex breathes a sigh of relief, even if his body doesn’t relax completely. And that’s on Michael. He should have noticed sooner that Alex wasn’t feeling entirely secure in their relationship. But it’s also on Alex for not being honest with him about their feelings. Clearly they’ve still got a ways to go in terms of figuring out how to make this thing between them work. 

They may not have the ability to have the conversation completely right now. But there is something Michael can say and he doesn’t want to wait. 

“I want you to know, right here, surrounded by family, exhausted as fuck, and spending the entire time complaining because I want to be in bed with you instead? This is the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. The most settled. And it’s important to me that you know that.”

Alex doesn’t say anything, but he does relax a bit further in his chair and Michael takes that as a win. He reaches out his hand and smiles when Alex reaches back and they can lace their fingers together. 

Peter obviously comes over and tries to pull Michael off of Alex, angry that he’s not the one getting all of his daddy’s attention, but they don’t let go. Michael isn’t planning on letting go of Alex ever again. And he hopes Alex feels the same way about him. 

****

**Sunday Night** : 

There is a lot to love about Alex’s house: the bed with plenty of room for two; the fenced-in backyard where Michael has been considering putting in a garden for weeks now; the kitchen that provides enough space to actually cook full meals, not just half-assed omelettes and killer quesadillas; the big sofa deep enough for two people to lay together…

But by and large, the best part about Alex’s house is that it has Alex. Michael would happily live under a rock so long as Alex is there with him. 

The sun is starting to set and the two of them are in the backyard together while the dogs all play. Michael is relaxing on the chaise with Alex between his legs, laying back against him. They’ve been lazy ever since they got back from Isobel’s, both exhausted and in need of a nap that never came. Instead, they have just been lounging around in silence for the last two hours, occasionally laughing at something one of the dogs is doing. 

It’s good. It’s comfortable. But they are both avoiding a talk they really need to be having. Alex sure as hell isn’t going to break first given that the topic they need to discuss is him, so it’s up to Michael. 

“So, we’re alone now,” he starts awkwardly. 

Alex snorts, which doesn’t make him feel any more at ease. “Smooth, Guerin.” 

“Can we talk about what Liz told me?” he asks, shifting around. Alex sighs and sits up. There is maybe three feet between them, but it feels like an entire football field with the way Alex is avoiding meeting his eyes. 

“I’m not sure it’s really any of your business or hers,” Alex bristles. 

Michael doesn’t respond right away. He doesn’t want to start a fight with Alex, which he will most certainly do if he keeps pushing. They’ve been doing so good since getting back together. They’ve been together eleven weeks and not once have they fought. They hardly even bicker. He’s not eager to see what a fight between them will do to the relationship they’ve been building together. 

Still, he doesn’t think Alex will fix this thing with Maria without some nudging and he knows their distance has been making him miserable. Wouldn’t it be selfish of him to let this go in order to save his own relationship with Alex at the expense of one of Alex’s most important friendships? 

“Just say whatever it is you want to say,” Alex says with a roll of his eyes. 

Peter comes over to them and attempts to climb up into Alex’s lap, but he’s not tall enough yet to make that jump on his own. Alex leans down to pick him up. Perhaps he’ll be less likely to yell at Michael with one of the puppies in his arms. Michael can only hope... 

“You know that Maria and I broke up for more than her refusal to wear the bracelet, right?” he asks. 

Alex doesn’t look at him, his eyes are trained on Peter, but he shrugs and says, “yeah.” So Michael knows he’s at least listening. That’s something. 

“She broke up with me because she knew I was always going to love you,” he explains. “And she was right.”

“If she hadn’t broken up with you, you’d still be with her,” Alex says. He says it more to Peter than he does to him, but he still says it and that’s a start. 

Michael doesn’t respond right away. Alex deserves more than a quick, defensive answer. He deserves the truth. That’s the only way this thing between them is going to work. So Michael swallows down the knot in his throat and tries to quell the growing anxiety that the world is about to crumble around him. He tries to trust in this thing between them that has somehow managed to survive the last twelve years, despite abusive fathers, murder, war, alien serial killers, bomb plots, and literal lost limbs. They can get past the fact that Michael dated Alex’s best friend. 

“I’m not sure I ever honestly thought that you and I could get to this place… But this? What we have here? This has been my dream since we were 17. I would choose this life with you a thousand times before any other option,” he admits, hoping Alex believes him. 

Alex’s eyes finally look up and he’s able to see his face. Michael can read the fear in him and he hates that he’s ever given Alex a reason to doubt this. 

“If I could take it back—” 

“No, please,” Alex cuts him off before the lie can roll off his tongue. “You had every right to date Maria. I mean, I would have, had that even been an option for me. She’s a good person and I wanted you to have something good.” 

“You’re my something good,” he rushes to make clear. 

It earns him a smile, which feels like victory enough. Perhaps this doesn’t have to end in yelling and tears. 

“We weren’t good together,” Alex says. “You were right, when you told me that, as hard as it was to hear at the time. We both had a lot of growing to do and I’m not sure we could have done that together.” 

Michael nods, because he’s right. As hard as it had been to push Alex away after he’d started coming around last year, it had been the right decision. They both had a lot of things to work through separately before they were ready to meet each other in the middle and start something new. 

“We’re good together now,” he says, relieved when Alex reaches out his hand for Michael’s. 

“I know,” Alex says, squeezing his hand in reassurance. “Sometimes it’s just hard to trust that it will stay that way.” 

“Because you think that I’m going to leave?” he asks, trying to understand so he can do better. 

“I just feel like, whenever things are good in my life, there’s always something ready to jump in and strip it away,” Alex says. “And we don’t have a good track record with this dating thing. I worry that you’ll get bored or that I’ll get scared, or that we’ll get in a fight and both say something we can’t take back…” 

“We’re going to get in a fight,” he says, sitting up further in his chair and scooting closer to Alex so that he can take both of his hands in his own. “We’re going to get mad and say things we don’t mean. Love isn’t this perfect fix. But we don’t have to let this thing break. We can choose to push through, together, everyday. That’s what I want.” 

“That’s what I want too,” Alex agrees. Michael lets out a breath he didn’t even realize he’d been holding. 

“Good,” he says as Alex leans in to give him a sweet kiss, all the while Peter attempts to nudge Michael away, never willing to share his daddy’s affections. Alex picks Peter up and places him on the ground before standing up. 

“We should probably start dinner,” Alex says. 

“We still need to talk about Maria,” he says, standing up as well. Alex groans, but doesn’t protest any further. They gather up the dogs and bring them all inside as they head to the kitchen to figure out something to cook. 

“My fight with Maria honestly doesn’t have anything to do with you,” Alex says, sitting up on the counter as Michael pulls the ingredients out to make a stir fry. 

“Then it shouldn’t stress you out this much to talk about it,” Michael counters. 

Alex narrows his eyes at him but the slight upturn of his lips lets Michael know that he’s at least as amused as he is annoyed at his attempts to get him talking. 

“I don’t understand why you care about this,” Alex says. “It doesn’t impact you.” 

“It impacts  _ you _ ,” he says, meaningfully at first, until the words sink in and he scoffs. “And it does impact me.” 

Alex gives him a disbelieving look. 

“If you aren’t talking to Maria then I’m not talking to Maria,” he explains, though he’s pretty sure that should be obvious. It’s like the first rule of dating. Or that’s what he’s learned from watching Isobel over the years. 

“I didn’t tell you to stop talking to Maria,” Alex says with a roll of his eyes. He hops off the counter and uses his hip to move Michael out of the way to start preparing dinner when it’s clear that Michael is too distracted to focus on the task. “You can talk to her.” 

“I know that I can,” Michael says, annoyed. “And I do. But not about anything that matters.” 

“Well then pick up the phone and call her, Guerin.” 

Clearly this is going well. Michael looks at his feet where John is nuzzling into his leg and gives him a look while he gestures at Alex’s back, as if to say, ‘do you see what I have to deal with?’ John is of course as useless at getting Alex to talk as he is adorable. Michael rolls his eyes and looks back up. 

“You’re mad that she won’t wear the bracelet,” he says. 

Alex slams the knife he’s using to cut up the vegetables on the counter. “Of course I’m mad.” 

Michael doesn’t say anything right away and Alex takes a few steadying breaths before he replies again, this time more calm, “I don’t get how she can be this careless with her own life. She’s seen what’s happened to Mimi.” 

“I know,” Michael agrees. “I tried to talk to her about it, but she’s going to make her own decisions.” 

“Well you didn’t try hard enough,” he says. “You just let her break up with you.” 

Michael feels like he’s suffering from whiplash. “I’m sorry, now you’re mad that we broke up?” 

“No, of course not,” Alex says with a sigh as he deflates. “I’m just so frustrated.” 

“I know.” 

Alex allows Michael to step into his space and wrap his arms around him from behind. Alex relaxes into his touch. 

“I can’t watch her deteriorate, I won’t,” Alex whispers. 

“We won’t let that happen,” he says, placing a comforting kiss to the side of his neck. 

“When I was growing up, I didn’t have many people that cared for me. I didn’t become good friends with Liz until high school. And Kyle and I were friends as kids, but he was never able to handle anything serious. Even my brothers were assholes. I know that Greg is great now, but back then, he had no idea how to comfort me,” Alex explains. 

It’s the most Michael has ever heard Alex talk about his childhood and he doesn’t move, doesn’t hardly breathe for fear that Alex will stop talking. 

“I had Maria. And I had Mimi. I would spend every night I could get away at their house. Watching Mimi deteriorate has been miserable. She’s the closest thing I’ve had to a mom. A real mom at least…” 

He trails off and Michael doesn’t say anything when Alex wipes his tears with the back of his hand. 

“I can’t lose Maria.” 

Michael nods in understanding before realizing that Alex can’t see him, so he kisses his neck again to remind him that he’s here. Alex squeezes at the arms around his waist before he goes back to cutting the vegetables. Michael relaxes his hold on him but doesn’t let go. He watches as Alex cuts the bell peppers, then the carrots, and finally the broccoli. It isn’t until he’s having to let go so Alex can grab the chicken and a pan that he figures out how to word what he wants to say. 

“I get that you’re scared, and when you’re scared you push people away because it’s easier,” he says carefully. “But all you’re doing by distancing yourself from Maria is making sure that you lose her sooner.” 

Alex pauses from where he’s digging around in the cabinet for a pan and trying to hold back Wendy who’s trying to crawl inside. He looks at Michael like he actually hears him for a change. 

“Just something to think about,” he says, feeling a bit smug that he actually got Alex to both talk and come around. “I’m gonna go take them for a walk,” he adds, picking up a protesting Wendy before she can lick all of the pans. He figures Alex could use the time and space to process. He usually does. 

Michael is at the door getting all the dogs in their harnesses when Alex steps out of the kitchen to give him a playful glare. “You know you’re an insufferable ass, right?” 

He lets out a loud laugh. He probably is, but if it means that Alex won’t pine after his best friend anymore, then he can live with it. 

“Call Maria,” he says, grabbing the tandem leash for the puppies. “We can put the babies to bed early tonight and reward each other for doing hard things today.”

Alex scoffs. “Going to brunch at your sister’s is not a hard thing.” 

“Speak for yourself.”

Alex sighs deeply, but gives him that fond look that always has his heart growing three times the normal size. He steps into the hallway and gets Bell onto her own leash while Michael finishes with the puppies. Once they are all done, Alex hands him Bell’s leash, his eyes serious as he says, “Thank you.” 

Michael shrugs it off like it’s nothing, even though he’s pretty sure it’s everything. “Sometimes we just need to help each other out of our own way, right?” 

It’s what Alex had told Michael the night they’d decided to get back together. Back when Michael was still coming up with a thousand excuses as to why he wasn’t good enough for Alex. 

“Right,” Alex says, sounding more like he’s trying to convince himself than agree with Michael’s statement. 

Michael can see that he’s mentally trying to talk himself up to calling Maria and thinks perhaps the whole thing will go easier if he stays out of the house for a bit with the dogs. 

“I’ll walk them to the dog park down the street. Why don’t you just call me when you’re ready for us to come home,” he says. 

And that’s exactly what he does. He takes the dogs to the dog park where they play and he reluctantly socializes with their annoying neighbors for a solid forty-five minutes. But when Alex does finally call, he sounds so much lighter than he has in weeks and Michael knows that the entire exhausting day has been well worth it. From the annoying brunch at his sisters to the difficult conversation with Alex. If it’s what Alex needed, then Michael is happy to have been able to give that to him. 

Not that he’ll ever tell Isobel that, she’ll start making Sunday morning brunches a regular event, and Michael isn’t about to give up his lazy Sundays in bed with Alex. Not for the world. 


	12. Week 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex is away and calls home to check on Michael and the dogs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... phone sex for sure happens in this one. So if that's not your thing, I'd skip this one.

The phone rings so early in the morning that it’s still dark outside. Of course the sound causes the three littlest ones on the bed to jolt awake and start barking. Michael groans, reaching out to grab his cell phone off of the nightstand without moving too much. He’s worried if he sits up that John will go tumbling off of his chest and to the floor. It wouldn’t be the first time. His smallest pup really is an uncoordinated mess. 

When Michael is able to pull his phone to his face, he smiles when he sees an incoming FaceTime call from Alex. 

“You woke up the children,” he playfully admonishes Alex in lieu of a formal greeting. Alex has been away on a training for the last several days and isn’t due back home until Tuesday. 

“Sorry,” Alex says, not looking sorry in the least. “I have to report in thirty minutes and I didn’t want to leave for work without seeing you guys.” 

Michael smiles at that. Or, he would, but Peter, little shit that he is, climbs over his face in order to see his daddy properly. 

“Hey baby!” Alex says, his entire face lighting up. “Are you being a good boy for your old man?” 

Michael rolls his eyes and Peter literally sits on his face. He most certainly did  _ not _ agree to being called ‘old man’ and every time he says as much to Alex, Alex makes sure to use it that much more. The fact that Peter is also a little shit is one hundred percent Alex’s influence. 

Michael lets Peter say hi for a minute before he reaches up and grabs him, moving him to his chest so that Michael can breathe properly and Alex can see more than just Peter’s nose. Wendy and John squeeze themselves into the frame as well to say hello. 

Alex spends a solid minute greeting each of them personally and Michael has to bite back a goofy smile at the way they all get excited to hear their name and attempt to reach Alex through the phone. 

“So we’re letting the puppies sleep in our bed now?” Alex asks, amused once he’s done saying good morning to the littles. 

“They missed you,” Michael says defensively, not bothering to mention that it is indeed Michael who misses Alex and he’s been letting the puppies sleep in the bed so it won’t feel so big and empty. 

“That’s very sweet,” he says. “If they pee on the comforter I’m gonna be mad.” 

He has a fair point. Which is why Michael had thought ahead and stripped the bed and replaced the linens with the cheap sheets they only ever use on laundry day.

“Aww, come on babe, you can’t be mad the dogs are in the bed. Look at our girl,” he says, flipping the camera around and pointing it at Bell, who is currently under the covers next to Michael with her head on Michael’s pillow, eyeing the entire thing skeptically, but not running away, which is progress. 

“Oh my god, when did this happen?” Alex asks, his hands coming up to his mouth as his eyes water. 

Bell has been home with them for three whole weeks and has spent most of her time under their bed. So much time, in fact, that Alex and Michael have taken turns hanging out under the bed with her so she wouldn’t be alone. She would only ever leave to go outside during the day. They’ve had to keep their master bedroom door open at night because the only time she’d venture into the kitchen to eat is during the middle of the night when the entire house is asleep. 

“Two nights ago, I woke up to her crawling under the blanket from the foot of the bed. I was gonna text you, but I didn’t wanna jinx it,” he says. “She still goes under the bed when anyone knocks on the door, but otherwise this is her new spot.” 

Michael flips the camera back around as Peter tries to lick the phone and Michael has to hold it above his head and out of reach. 

“Well that’s certainly progress,” Alex says with a smile and Michael agrees. 

Wendy barks at the blanket when Michael moves his foot and pounces at it and John stands up to egg her on. 

“Jesus, it’s too early for this shit,” Michael says with a laugh even as he moves his foot around and watches Wendy jump around at the foot of the bed trying to attack whatever beast she assumes is under the sheet. 

“I feel bad leaving you with all four of them yourself,” he says. “I know they’re a handful.”

A handful, they certainly are. But that’s not the reason that Michael is annoyed that Alex had to go away this week. Despite his loud protest for weeks about getting a dog, Michael is completely satisfied with their crazy brood. 

“I feel worse about you being gone on a Sunday.” Michael pouts at the camera and Alex lets out a groan. 

“I know, why do you think I called you so early?” he says. “I wanted to at least pretend that we woke up in bed together before I had to go through another one of these long ass days.” 

Michael wants that too. It’s crazy, in a matter of weeks, Michael has completely forgotten how to sleep alone. 

“Next time the stupid military decides to send you somewhere, I’m throwing the kids in the airstream and we are coming with you,” he says. 

Alex’s soft smile tells him that he wants that too, even as he questions, “And give Bell a nervous breakdown? Wouldn’t that make us bad parents?” 

“We’ll train her up,” Michael says, he’s about to say more, when John starts circling around, doing his potty dance. 

“Nope!” Michael yells, grabbing John and shooting out of bed. He rushes to the back door, letting him out, before he can poop in the house. Unsurprisingly, his siblings run after him and head outside as well. Perfect. The kids are officially up, everyone’s out of bed except for Bell, and there’s no way Michael is getting back to sleep. It’s not even six in the morning. 

He sighs, pulling the phone back up. 

“Sorry,” Michael apologizes. “I should probably let you go or something.” 

“Wait,” Alex calls out before he can hang up. Michael gives him a questioning look. “I just want to look at you for another minute.” 

Michael blushes at that, stepping out onto the patio to take a seat at one of the chairs, watching the kids run around the yard, distracted for a few minutes. 

“Is that all I am to you? A pretty face?” he asks in mock outrage. 

“Basically.” 

“I want to be loved for more than just my beauty you know,” he teases him. 

“Oh, I appreciate your mind as well.” Alex’s eyes darken and he licks at his lower lip in the way that always turns Michael on. He reaches down to rub at himself through his sweatpants, and he doesn’t have to be able to see all of Alex… The look on his face tells him that he’s doing the same thing. 

“My mind was it?” Michael asks, as he starts to get hard. He flips the camera so that Alex can see the tent in his pants. 

“I hate you,” Alex groans and shifts around on the bed until he’s resting back against the pillows. 

Michael can just picture him, laying out, feet on the mattress, knees spread, and touching himself. He glances around to make sure the puppies are still distracted before he slips his hand under the waistband to touch himself properly, letting out a moan as he does. 

“Fuck, Michael.” Alex bites his lip and it does things to Michael. 

“Yes please,” he says, not even embarrassed by how breathy it comes out. “Hurry before the kids want my attention again.” 

Alex laughs, but angles his camera down so that Michael can see his hand pumping himself slowly under the thin sheet. Michael slows down his own pumping to match Alex’s pace, trying to picture it’s Alex beside him, touching him. 

“You say the sexiest things,” Alex says. 

“You love it.” 

His breath catches as the sheet covering Alex drops and he can see him in all of his glory. Alex lets go of his dick to lick at his palm before returning back to touching himself. Michael practically whines. Alex paints a positively filthy picture and if he hadn’t upgraded both of their phones with some military grade encryption software he’d be worried… But they are safe and Michael can enjoy this moment with zero guilt.

“I love you,” Alex says. 

Despite the fact that both of them are touching themselves, breathing heavily, and moaning loud enough for the neighbors to hear if they were awake, Michael positively melts at Alex’s words. Alex always makes sure that Michael never feels like they are just having sex. They make love every single time. 

“I love you, too,” Michael whispers, slowing his pace so that he is able to get the words out without sounding like a damn porn star. 

Alex changes the camera angle so that his entire face comes back into view and while Michael was enjoying watching Alex touch himself, he has to admit, he’d rather get off to this view instead. Alex is so fucking beautiful. 

“I should be the one touching you right now,” he says, and it sounds sad. 

Michael drops his grip on himself and sits up, watching Alex’s face carefully. Somehow, his tired eyes had missed it before, but he can see it now. The weight Alex is carrying in his shoulders. The stress around his eyes. Michael isn’t the only one feeling the distance between them. He wants to ask Alex about the training, but Michael already knows that whatever the military has Alex working on is classified and Alex isn’t allowed to say. And while Alex may disregard the military’s need for secrecy when it comes to anything alien related, he’s a stickler for it with everything else. 

“You’ll be home in two days and then you can do all the touching you want,” Michael assures him. 

Alex smiles, and though it doesn’t completely erase the stress, it’s something. “I’m gonna hold you to that.” 

“You can hold me to more than that, Baby,” he says with a wink that has Alex laughing again. 

“Are you gonna come with me or not?” Alex asks and Michael’s not a complete idiot. He flips the camera around, pulls his pants down, and gives Alex a show. After all, his soldier deserves to know what he’s coming back home to, does he not? 


	13. Week 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael teaches Alex how to create a garden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written after both @cosmicclownboy and @jocarthage made me fall in love with the idea of Michael gardening...

It’s nearly lunchtime by the time Alex wanders out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, expecting to find Michael playing with the puppies. The fact that he doesn’t see Michael or the puppies is confusing. Michael had walked them this morning, but that had been hours ago and he’s definitely been back since then. He’s sure of it because Michael had brought him an omelette in bed and had made Bell a special doggy breakfast of her own. 

Michael hadn’t said he was leaving and he never steps out without a goodbye kiss, even if he’s just going for a quick walk around the block. He takes a lap around the house, checking all of the rooms and the garage before he hears tiny paws against the back door and realizes that Michael must be in the backyard. When he looks over, he smiles at the sight of Peter jumping at the sliding door, trying to reach him. When he looks out into the yard further, he sees Michael, shirtless, with a shovel in hand. 

His first thought is that he’s burying a body, because that’s just the kind of crazy life they lead these days. Though Alex is pretty sure he would have heard if they’d killed anyone and Michael isn’t stupid enough to bury a body in their own backyard. Still, he doesn’t know what else Michael could need a shovel for or why he’s digging up the backyard. 

Curious, he steps out into the back, leaning down to pick up Peter as he jumps all over him. 

“What is your daddy doing?” he asks as Peter licks his face. 

Michael has the radio on, cranking some country station that Alex can’t stand but Michael loves. Wendy is rolling around in a pile of clay that Michael has dug up and John is, unsurprisingly, sleeping in the sling that Michael’s taken to wearing. He should snap a picture and send it to Isobel. She doesn’t believe Alex when he tells her that Michael is going to be the most overprotective dad in the world. He pulls out his phone while Michael still hasn't noticed him and snaps a picture, making sure to zoom in on John’s dopey little puppy smile. 

“What are you doing?” he asks once he’s close enough not to have to yell. 

Michael looks up at him, slightly startled, before smiling. “I'm setting up a garden.” 

Alex gives Michael a curious look. He’s never heard him talk about an interest in gardening before, but he guesses it makes sense given all the time he’s spent working at various ranches and farms around town. 

“It’s gonna be great,” Michael says. “Just trust me.” 

Alex has no reason to doubt him. He’s said that about every other home improvement project he’s started and each time Alex has been pleasantly surprised by the results. Michael could probably have his own show on HGTV if he wanted. Lord knows the world would love watching shirtless Michael doing home improvement jobs around the house. Alex certainly does. 

“Okay,” he agrees, not honestly caring one way or the other. It’s Michael’s house, too, even if they’ve never made it official. If he wants a garden, he can have a garden. 

Alex has never been one to plant, himself. Gardening isn’t a stereotypically manly activity, so it clearly wasn’t something any child of Jesse Manes was going to do. He can just picture his dad’s reaction if Alex had ever even suggested planting something. Once he’d joined the military, attempting to grow anything seemed pointless when he never knew how long he would be in a single place for. He’s pretty sure it’s not his thing though. He barely remembers to feed himself and the dogs, so there’s no way he’s going to remember to regularly water a plant. 

Peter starts moving around in his arms, whining to be let down. Alex sets him on the ground and groans when he goes to jump in the same pile of clay that his sister is already playing in. They are definitely going to need a bath tonight. 

“Gardening is supposed to reduce stress and anxiety,” Michael explains as he hands Alex his shovel and moves to go grab another one. 

“So I guess you’re expecting me to do this with you?” Alex asks, amused. 

“Am I expecting you to take your shirt off and get hot and sweaty with me?” he responds, playfully. “Absolutely.” 

Alex laughs at that, but does start to dig into the dirt, following Michael’s lead. 

“Weren’t the puppies supposed to be our therapy?” he asks a few minutes later, once he’s started working up a decent sweat. 

“The puppies were  _ your _ therapy,” Michael says. 

Alex scoffs staring pointedly at the puppy that’s literally strapped to Michael’s chest. 

“I love how you tell everyone that we got these dogs for me,” Alex says with a laugh. He pulls his own shirt off when it becomes clear that it’s too hot to be out here with it on. “I was prepared to leave with one. You’re the one that decided we needed to bring home four.” 

“You really think you’d have been able to pick one of them?” he asks. Alex thinks about it, and the truth is, he’s not sure how he would have picked just one of them. “That’s what I thought,” he adds with a smirk. 

“So why are we digging up all of this land? Don’t we just need to like, put the seeds in a hole?” Alex asks. 

Michael looks at him in sheer disbelief. He opens his mouth several times to say something but eventually just shakes his head. “You’re so pretty,” he teases and Alex flips him off. 

“Seriously, Guerin, I know nothing,” Alex says. “Teach me.” 

“Really?” he asks, unsure. “You’re not going to make fun of me if I nerd out?” 

“I mean, I’m totally gonna make fun of you, but I’ll listen.” 

Michael spends the next few hours teaching Alex all about proper soil for plant growth, the health benefits of growing your own food organically, the satisfaction that comes from being able to provide for yourself off of your own land, and about a thousand other things that Alex only half understands. He enjoys listening to it all anyways. By mid afternoon, the kids are exhausted and laying in the shade sleeping and Alex is ready to follow suit. But they’ve got something called a raised bed that will be ready for planting and Michael is already talking about building another accessible raised bed so that Alex can garden with him. He’s so damn excited about it that Alex doesn’t have the heart to tell him that he probably won’t use it. 

Though, who knows? With how happy it’s making Michael, maybe he will try it. Maybe Alex will start finding himself out here with Michael on their days off. After all, Michael’s already talking recipes that he’s excited to make once they start getting real vegetables and it does sound delicious. And while he’s tired, hungry, and sore, he does feel lighter than he has in weeks. Maybe Michael was onto something when he’d suggested that gardening was good for anxiety.

“Please tell me we get to shower now,” Alex says, helping Michael clean up the tools and put them away in the shed he’d built a few weeks back. 

“I’ve had to stand here and watch you look like that all day,” Michael says. “We’d better be doing more than showering.” 

He smiles at that, as if Michael thinks that he too hasn’t been dreaming about licking every inch of his body for the last few hours. “We should hurry while the kids are still sleeping.” 

Michael grabs Alex’s hand and pulls him into the house quickly, shedding his remaining layers as he goes while Alex laughs loudly. He honestly loves Michael so much. This time last year, he didn’t think they’d ever figure things out. He’s so incredibly glad they have. He can’t imagine his life without Michael and the little family they are building together. 


	14. Week 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isobel plans a family brunch at Michael and Alex's house. She doesn't bother asking permission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PSA: I’ve been struggling all week with how to continue writing Malex given my current emotions about the Tyler Blackburn situation. And I realized that not creating anymore isn’t going to help anyone. What WILL help is putting money towards relief for Native Americans. So from this point forward, every time I post a fic, I am going to be donating $$ to the Navajo Nation COVID-19 Relief Fund (https://www.nndoh.org/donate.html) and if you are willing and able, I invite you to do the same. 
> 
> -I am behind on comments, but cherish every one and will get to them soon. Been a busy week.

Michael is laying in bed with Alex, both of them just starting to wake up after a late night. Alex had performed at open mic night and then Maria had offered up a round of shots. One round of shots quickly became several and after an Uber home, they’d continued drinking over a very competitive game of strip poker, that Alex had lost spectacularly at. So when the puppies start barking incessantly from the other room, Michael can only groan. 

A moment later, the doorbell rings. 

“No,” he grumbles and Alex whines. Neither of them make a move to leave the bed when the doorbell rings again. 

Michael looks over at Alex expectantly, and Alex’s only response is to wave at his leg, helplessly. 

Michael snorts. “Interesting how you are so ready to pull the disability card when it comes to things like this, but when you’ve been on your feet for hours and I’m offering you a chair, it’s all, ‘I can do anything anyone else can do, twice. Three times on Saturday.” 

Alex continues to smile at him until Michael rolls his eyes and gets out of bed. The moment he vacates his spot, Bell jumps into bed and cuddles up next to Alex. 

“Traitor,” Michael tells her, with no real malice behind it. He’s glad to see that she’s getting more comfortable with them both every week that she’s here. 

He slips into last night's jeans, zipping them up but ignoring the button. Whoever is at the door can deal with it. He’s not planning on being in his clothes for long. 

“Bring me a coffee on your way back,” Alex tells him with the most adorable smile that he doesn’t even flip him off playfully like he normally would at such a request. Instead he kneels on the bed and leans over Bell to give him a kiss. 

The doorbell rings a third time and the puppies go crazy. 

“Alright, I hear you,” he says, standing back up and heading out the door. 

He rubs his eyes and he makes his way through the house. He peeks into the kitchen. The moment the puppies see him, they start jumping over each other, trying to hop the baby gate to get out, barking to get his attention. 

“Give me a minute,” he tells them as he reaches the door. 

The doorbell rings again and Michael curses as he opens it, annoyed to see Isobel on the other side. 

“You couldn’t just use your powers to unlock the door yourself?” he grumbles, confused at the grocery bags in her hand. He’s 100% sure he didn’t agree to her coming over today.

“Your neighbor’s watching and being super creepy. I got nervous,” she says. 

Michael looks over her shoulder and rolls his eyes when he realizes who she is talking about. 

“Asshole,” he explains before raising his hand with a fake smile. 

“Good morning, Mrs. Register!” Through his teeth, he adds, for Isobel’s enjoyment, “not a single one of her flowers are gonna bloom this year. She reported us to the HOA last week.” 

“Why?” Isobel asks, perfect mix of annoyed and confused. “Your guys house could be the cover of Better Homes and Gardens.”

Mrs. Register glares at him before heading back into her house, at which point he flips her off. 

“She claims our fence is too tall,” he says, stepping out of the way so she can come inside. 

“Was it?” she asks, heading for the kitchen. The dogs go crazy when they enter. Isobel greets them all, pulling treats out of her pocket for them. Determined as ever to buy their affections. 

“No,” he says offended. “You think I would install a fence that wasn’t the proper height? I told her I’d cut it down if she wanted to see all the queer sex we have in the backyard. She’s a homophobic bitch who’s pissed off that I moved in.”

“So you moved in!” she asks, squealing in delight so loudly that he rolls his eyes. 

“No,” he answers quickly to cover up his slip. He’s certainly been calling Alex’s place home for weeks now, but he doesn’t live here. Not yet. Not until Alex brings it up. It was his space first and Michael doesn’t want to intrude or push too hard or too fast. “You know what I mean,” he says, hoping she’ll drop it. 

Thankfully she does. She starts unpacking her bags and he leans against the counter to watch. Trying to figure out what it is that she thinks she’s doing. He’s well past the days where he needed Isobel to stock his fridge for him. 

“So you did your little weed-o-magic curse on her?” she asks. 

“Trust me, the woman deserves far worse, but it’s all Alex will let me do,” he complains, taking the eggs from her and putting them in the fridge. 

“Well luckily, my orgasms don’t depend on being in Alex’s good graces.” Michael makes a face. He doesn’t want to hear about his sister’s orgasms. “I’ll let the air out of her tires on the way out.” 

He smiles at that. After some of the hateful things the lady has said to Alex and him, it’s what she deserves. “You’re my favorite sibling,” he says. 

“I know.” She smiles at him, patting his cheek lovingly. 

He hears the creak of the bedroom door open down the hall and sighs. If Alex is up, his hopes of crawling back into bed are slowly fading. 

“Are you going to explain why you’re waking us up on a Sunday?” he asks as Alex appears at the baby gate, puppies yelping to get out. Alex opens the gate and moves to the back door to let the dogs outside. 

“Everyone else is gonna be here in an hour. I figured I’d help you get the house ready,” she says. 

“Ready for what exactly?” Alex asks, returning to the kitchen. He leans against the counter and Michael shuffles over so that he can lean against him. 

“We’re having family brunch here,” she says, like it’s no big deal. 

“What?” he asks, as if he misheard her. He heard her just fine, but he doesn’t accept. He did not agree to this. 

“Our Sunday family brunch,” she says, like that somehow constitutes an explanation. 

He looks over at Alex who mutters, “I better go find pants.” 

“Oh I don’t know Captain Manes, I think you look delicious,” she says batting her eyelashes in a way that Michael knows is teasing but he still steps in front of Alex to shield him from her view. 

“Stop flirting with my boyfriend and get your own,” Michael tells her. Alex’s hands find their way around his waist and Micheal leans into the touch. 

“You’re no fun,” she says, turning back to put the rest of the groceries away. 

“Iz, explain,” Michael tells her. 

“We’re having brunch.” She smiles at him without an ounce of remorse even though Michael knows that she knows exactly what she’s doing. 

Alex snorts. 

“Okay, now explain it like we are 5,” Michael says, fighting back an amused smile. He is not going to be happy about this, no matter how hilariously persistent she is. She’s a brat and he isn’t going to encourage her. She’s ruining his Sunday. 

“You said that, under no circumstances, were you leaving this house today,” she tells him, crossing her arms, daring him to challenge her on her interpretation of his words. 

He shakes his head as Alex whispers, “I told you to not to leave her a loophole to climb through.” 

Michael looks over his shoulder at Alex, who is fighting back a smile, clearly having already settled on amused instead of annoyed. 

“I hate you,” he says, rubbing his face in defeat. 

“I love you, too,” she says with a laugh. “Now button up your pants and go find a shirt that isn’t covered in last night’s sexual activities. 

“It happened one time,” Alex grumbles into his ear and Michael laughs. 

“You’re doing all of the cooking and the cleanup,” Michael tells her. 

Isobel shrugs. “Done.” 

“We’re going to go get ready,” Michael says, taking Alex’s hand and walking out of the kitchen. 

On the way out, Alex turns to her and says, “We aren’t making a habit of this.” 

Isobel raises her hand in a salute and says, “Whatever you say, Captain.” 

The challenge in both Alex and Isobel’s eyes has Michael groaning. Michael lets the puppies back in and then heads back to the bedroom with Alex. 

“You shouldn’t goad her,” Michael complains. “If you give her a challenge, she won’t back down. She doesn’t know how to lose.” 

“Babe, I’ve been to actual war. I think I can handle your sister,” he says. 

Michael shakes his head. No matter what Alex may have seen in Iraq, he’s never really had to combat Isobel in full on event planning mode. 

“I’ll be sure to say nice things at your funeral,” Michael jokes. 

Bell whimpers at them as they start pulling clothes out of the closet. 

“Sorry girl,” Michael tells her. “We won’t be spending the day with you.” 

Bell turns her head to look at Alex, expression hopeful, if that’s even possible for a dog. 

Alex shakes his head. Bell puts her head back on the pillow and shimmies until the blanket is covering all of her. 

“She’s got the right idea,” Michael says with a laugh, trading out his old jeans for a clean pair. 

“It’s not so bad.” Alex sits on the bed to get his prosthetic on. 

“Isobel’s brunches from hell aren’t so bad?” Michael says, eyes going wide in comedic shock. “Did Alex Manes just admit that he likes a party?” 

“It’s not a party, it’s a family brunch,” he argues. “It’s kind of nice. You know?” 

Michael does know. It’s the kind of thing neither of them had growing up. 

“I still get to be mad about the lack of morning sex though, right?” 

Alex laughs. “Always.” 


	15. Week 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael and Alex talk about their insecurities and their issues as they discuss moving in together officially.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PSA: With each fic I post, I continue to put money towards the Navajo Nation COVID-19 Relief Fund - https://www.nndoh.org/donate.html 
> 
> This chapter is a prompt fill for @arielana
> 
> Comments on this fic are currently turned off in an effort to prevent further harassment.

Alex sits between Michael’s legs on the chaise, leaning against his back as he drinks his morning coffee. The dogs are running around the yard, distracted for a change, giving them a quiet moment to themselves. Like they used to have before they adopted four dogs at once and their house had become complete chaos. Loveable chaos, a chaos that they both thrive under, but still chaos. 

“The garden looks great,” Alex comments. “Good job, babe.” 

Michael nuzzles his nose into his neck, his breath tickling Alex in the most delightful way. “Thanks, I’m thinking about building the dogs a playhouse next,” he says softly, leaving a trail of kisses. “It’s nice to have a yard.” 

“It’s nice to have somebody to tend to the yard,” he says, tilting his head to provide Micheal with greater access in his explorations. 

He’s stopped questioning all of Michael’s multiple projects a while ago. Alex just loves that he’s been making their house a home for them both. Something that’s uniquely both of theirs. It’s everything he’d hoped for when he’d bought this house. He’d been naive then and thought their path back together would be smooth. That the moment he showed up with open arms, Michael would be there waiting for him. 

Looking back, that hadn’t been fair. But Alex is glad that, despite everything, they’ve still managed to make it back to each other. 

He takes another sip of his coffee, smiling at the caramel Bailey’s that Michael had spiked it with. They’ve got nowhere to be today and it’s the perfect excuse to day drink. They’ve both had a long week between work and the latest alien drama and they deserve to spend the day doing nothing but lounging around. 

“I will happily tend to your yard whenever it’s needed,” Michael says. “Gotta make sure everything’s pristine in case Mrs. Register decides to call HOA on us again.” 

Alex freezes at the words and Michael immediately takes notice, stopping his kisses and pulling away to watch his face.

“It’s our yard,” he says carefully. 

They haven’t talked about this. Not really. Alex has been too nervous to mess up their domestic bliss with a potentially difficult conversation. After all, Michael is sleeping here every single night. It hardly seems important to get caught up on the semantics of it all. 

Except hearing Michael say ‘your’ instead of ‘our’ has a wave of panic moving through him and he’d be lying if he said he doesn’t know why. 

Michael smiles at him and leans in to kiss him, but Alex pulls away before he can. 

It’s not the first time Michael has said something like this to him. Each time Alex has allowed Michael to kiss him and change the subject, brushing it away like it doesn’t matter. This time, though, it matters. 

Alex takes a deep breath, summoning all of his courage and prays he’s not about to ruin things between them. “Why do you always tell people you don’t live here.” 

“Um…” Michael looks away, shifting in his seat. Alex scoots back and sits on the edge of the chaise so that they can look at each other properly. “Because I don’t?” 

The words sting and Alex’s immediate impulse is to push back. To come back with biting words of his own and retain some power in the conversation. But those are old habits that got them nowhere in life, and they’ve both been working actively on doing better. He swallows down several mean and unhelpful retorts, before it processes in his mind that Michael isn’t looking at him with any spite.

Michael is playing with the fraying hem of his sweatpants. His shoulders are squared like he’s ready for war, but his eyes tell a different story. He’s nervous and insecure. He’s not preparing to go to battle, he’s bracing himself for bad news. 

Alex scoots closer and reaches out to place his hand on top of Michael’s. “You’re going to ruin those sweatpants if you keep pulling on that thread.” 

Michael looks up at him, and while he doesn’t reach out for Alex, he doesn’t stop Alex when he reaches to hold his hand properly with one hand, and threads his fingers through his hair with the other. In fact, he leans into the touch. 

“I consider this place as much yours as it is mine,” he says, knowing that Michael has to feel the same, at least to some degree. After all, he’s spent the last 3 months making this place into a home that works for both of them. Taking complete ownership of all the upgrades. 

Or maybe Alex was wrong. Maybe the fact that Michael has been constantly working to remodel the house is because he doesn’t feel at home here. There’s a twisting feeling in his gut that used to send him running for the hills, but he doesn’t do that anymore. He doesn’t run away from hard things. 

“You never asked me to move in with you,” Michael says pointedly. 

Alex snorts, dropping his hand from Michael’s hair. “That’s because you already live here. All of your things are here—”

“Not all of them,” he interrupts, defensively. 

Alex just keeps going. “And you already sleep here every night.” 

“That’s because it’s easier for you to move around here than the airstream with your crutches and all,” he argues. “Plus, the dogs need a fenced-in yard.”

“Michael,” Alex says, seriously. He waits a moment or two before Michael meets his eyes. “I didn’t ask you to move in with me because you were already here every night. It didn’t seem necessary.” 

“Is that the only reason?” he asks. 

Michael stares at him and it’s moments like this that he’s convinced Michael has the same psychic abilities as Isobel. He’s always able to see right through him. It was unnerving at first, but Alex has learned to appreciate it. He has somebody to call him on his bullshit. 

“I guess I was scared to ask because I didn’t want you to say no and lose all of this,” he admits. 

“Why would I say no?” Michael asks, not unkind but clearly confused. 

“Why would you say yes?” The words come out of his mouth faster than he can think and when he realizes what he’s just said, he’s positive that he’s just opened up a much bigger can of worms than simply a conversation about where Michael gets his mail delivered. 

Michael looks at him like he’s a dumbass. 

“Because I’m already here,” he says a fond smile growing slowly on his face. He tugs on Alex’s hand until he practically falls into Michael’s lap. They shift around until they are both comfortable, Alex with his head in Michael’s lap and Michael with his hands in Alex’s hair. 

“Does this ever feel temporary to you?” Alex asks, his voice barely a whisper, but Michael hears him just fine. 

“Like we’re living in a glass house?” he asks. Alex nods and Michael says, “Yeah.” 

“Why?” he asks, frustrated for the both of them. “We both know that we love each other.” 

Michael shrugs and leans his head back to look at the sky. “I guess I’ve never had anything permanent before. Or unconditional.” 

“You’ve had Max and Isobel,” he says. Alex’s own thoughts and feelings about Isobel and Max’s behavior towards Michael after Rosa died aside, Alex knows that they love their brother unconditionally. 

“Yeah, that’s different though,” Michael argues, and Alex almost misses it when he adds, “They’ve never left.” 

The defensive part of him nearly brings up the fact that Max died and left Michael to pick up the pieces, but that wouldn’t be fair nor would that help their relationship. They are supposed to be communicating. Alex has been working with his therapist on how to talk through his feelings without feeling the need to throw his walls up. 

“I’m not leaving,” is what he says instead, because it’s what Michael needs to hear. 

“I know,” Michael says quickly. 

“Do you?” he asks, watching Michael’s face carefully. 

“I do,” he says with a soft smile. “In my heart I do know that.” 

“But?” Alex asks, even though he’s pretty sure he knows the answer. Alex feels it sometimes, too. On his worst days when his insecurity gets the best of him, he starts questioning how long this can really last. 

“I guess it’s hard to trust that I’m worthy of it,” he says. 

Though it’s the answer that Alex expected, actually hearing the words shatters Alex’s heart. He knows that Michael has a laundry list of traumas that lead to him feeling insecure, but the fact that he’s contributed to that list actually breaks his heart. 

“I know that we never apologized for the things that happened before,” he says. 

Michael shakes his head. “We didn’t need to. We wiped the slate clean and promised to look forward together and do better.” 

“We did,” he says carefully, choosing his words wisely because he’s never been very good at conveying what he wants to say in a way that Michael can actually hear. “But maybe we should have talked about it first.” 

“Okay…” 

Michael squirms around in his seat like he wants to be done with this conversation, but his eyes tell a different story and that’s when Alex knows that he’s right. It had been easy when they first were getting together to just look ahead and stop keeping score. But pretending like they’ve never hurt each other in the past and aren’t perfectly capable of hurting each other again in the future if they aren’t careful was the easy answer. It allowed both of them to avoid a difficult conversation where they would have to face some pretty ugly truths about themselves. 

“You know all those times I walked away were never about you,” Alex tells him. 

“Weren’t they?” Michael says with a scoff. “You’re a decorated airman and I’m a criminal.” 

Alex sits up, angry at the words coming out of Michael’s mouth. 

“You’re not a criminal,” he says sharply. It doesn’t matter who is talking badly about Michael, even if it’s Michael himself — especially if it’s Michael himself — Alex is always going to get defensive. 

Michael gives him a knowing look and Alex deflates. “When I said that, I was out of line. I didn’t mean it.” 

“You meant it,” Michael says, eyes trained on the game of tug of war that Wendy and Peter are playing so he doesn’t have to look at Alex. 

“Maybe I did,” he relents. “But I didn’t mean it the way it sounded. I was just frustrated.” 

“With me,” Michael says, always so quick to confirm whatever self-deprecating narrative he tells himself and Alex hates that. 

“No, that what happened with my dad unraveled your entire future,” he argues. “I felt so guilty for the fact that you didn’t become some brilliant engineer. I was mad at myself that I let my dad destroy your life.”

“What happened in that tool shed didn’t destroy my life, Noah did,” Michael says, tears filling his eyes. “Project Shepard did. Years of abusive foster homes did.” 

“I know that  _ now _ ,” he says. 

Michael opens his mouth a few times to speak, but closes it each time, shaking his head. Alex doesn’t say anything. Since adopting Bell, he’s been reading a lot about how to help animals that have been through severe trauma. He’s been surprised to find that so much of the literature relates to his own needs coming from an abusive home. He’s come to realize that both Michael and he have their own unique way of reacting to the trauma in their lives and those reactions, while they align nicely at times, often push against each other. 

This isn’t the time for Alex to force an answer out of Michael in an effort to gain the control that he feels he needs to be able to breathe. Alex needs to wait for Michael to come to him. He needs time. 

Bell comes over to them and Michael sits back so that she can jump onto the chaise with them and curl up between them. They both reach out to pet her, hands touching in the process and the smile that Michael gives him helps assure Alex that everything is going to be okay. Even as they discuss the ugliest parts of their relationship, there’s a trust there that Alex has never experienced before. 

Michael isn’t going anywhere. He never has. Even when things between them were at their worst, they still somehow always knew they could rely on each other. 

So Alex lets go of his need to control the conversation and refuses to allow his brain to start coming up with strategies on how to handle whatever Michael is going to throw at him. He just waits. Waits and trusts. 

“After you left that summer, I was really angry,” Michael finally says. “And I stayed mad for a long time. I used to hate that you could just show up, whenever you wanted and get whatever you wanted, and yet, I never seemed to get what I wanted.” 

Alex takes a deep breath, biting his tongue on the words that could so easily tumble out of his mouth right now. Nothing Michael is saying is untrue, it’s just bias. He doesn’t have the entire story, and that’s not Michael’s fault. That’s Alex’s fault. 

“I never got what I wanted either,” he says with tears in his eyes. “I wanted  _ you _ . I wanted  _ this _ .” He gestures around at the home that he thought they were building together. That he hopes they still are building together. 

“I know that  _ now _ ,” Michael says, repeating his words back to him with a soft smile. 

“I know that you were just being defensive because you needed to guard your heart and couldn’t trust me to stay… but when I first came back, the way you would speak to me sometimes just broke my heart,” Alex admits. “I fell in love with a boy who would whisper the cheesiest romantic lines in my ear, and I came home to a man who was sarcastic and bitter and looking to hurt me.” 

“I think we both were looking to hurt each other at times and knew exactly which button to press,” Michael says. “I’m not proud of how I acted when you first came home.” 

“You can be proud of some of it,” Alex teases, trying to lighten the mood since Michael’s face is starting to look too sad for his liking. 

“Like the reunion kiss?” 

“That was a good kiss,” he says, remembering how relieved he had been when Michael had finally reached out and taken what both of them wanted but Alex didn’t know how to ask for. “Or that time you told me you never look away.” 

Michael shakes his head making a face. “I don’t like that memory.” 

“Why?” he wonders. 

There aren't a whole lot of memories when Alex first came back to Roswell that he’d describe as happy, but pretty much everything from Michael telling him he never looks away right up until Isobel had shown up with those damn bagels, Alex holds pretty close to his heart. 

“Do you really feel like I’m the one that looks away?” he asks with a deep frown. “Like I was the one to leave back then?” 

“You never even said goodbye.” Alex isn’t trying to start a fight here, but Michael has to get that he’s the one that pushed first. 

“I was in jail,” he says defensively. 

“You got locked up on purpose,” Alex says, not letting go of this one. It’s one of the pains that has fed a large chunk of his Michael related insecurities. That Michael didn’t care enough about him to give him a goodbye. That perhaps Michael hadn’t loved him as much as he’d told Alex he did. 

“I didn’t know how to say goodbye to you,” Michael says, grabbing his hand over Bell, his eyes imploring him to understand. “My entire life was falling apart and you were the only good thing I had… Then you told me that you were leaving me and you never even explained why. You just said it like it was no big deal and I had all of 36 hours to adjust to the news that you were shipping off.” 

“I didn’t say I was leaving you. I told you I was leaving,” he corrects him. 

“Same thing.” 

“I would have made it work,” he said. “To keep you, I would have done long distance.” 

Michael shakes his head. “No, Alex. You wouldn’t have.” 

“I would have tried,” he argues. 

“Really? You would have risked everything with your dad and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell? You would have risked that all for me?” Michael says with disbelief. 

Alex sighs, thinking back to what things were like for them back then. Perhaps Michael is right. Maybe he was too broken and scared back then to fight for what he wanted. But he’s not that boy anymore. 

“I wanted to. I wanted you. I just… I couldn’t deal with everything,” he admits. Michael reaches over to wipe a tear from Alex’s cheek. “I’m willing to risk everything for you now though.” 

“I know,” Michael says, thumb caressing his cheek lovingly. “I know you are and I love you for it.” 

“I wish I had been braver back then,” Alex says. 

“Hey, we’re here now, right?” he says, and Alex is so grateful that they are at this point in their relationship where they can talk about these things without it dissolving into a huge fight. But still, it doesn’t change the fact that not talking about all of their past has led to both of them feeling insecure in their relationship. 

Alex leans over Bell to give Michael a sweet kiss. When they break apart, Michael has that look on his face like he wants to say more but isn’t sure he should. 

“What?” 

“Was I really that bad?” Michael asks. “I mean, I know I was getting into fights, but I was getting into fights with the town bigots. It’s not like you never punched any of those assholes. And I was stealing because I couldn't go to the doctor and I couldn’t afford medical supplies. But I was never violent around you. The worst I ever did around you was smoke weed, and half the time you were the one supplying it.” 

Alex debates how to explain it to Michael in a way that he’ll understand. Even now, with some distance and time, he’s not entirely sure that he was seeing things clearly back then. To Alex, it didn’t matter that he rarely saw Michael drunk and out of control, or that he never actually saw him in any of the fights around town. He heard about each of them. 

And each time he would hear about it, all he could think about was his dad, who would come home to get drunk most nights and with each drink his abuse would shift from emotional to physical. He didn’t want to stick around and see how long it would take for Michael to escalate. 

Now, he knows that Michael never would have. He knows that Michael has spent his entire life learning to control his temper and his powers. That he never drinks enough to lose control. That he never lets himself get violent with anyone unless they’ve said something hateful about somebody he cares about. Michael is soft and good. He’s not the kind of man who thrives under anger and violence. 

But how was Alex supposed to know that at the time? All he’d ever known was anger and violence. 

“You weren’t the only one who never had anything permanent or unconditional,” he says instead. “I didn’t know what I was doing either. Or how to help. And I didn’t know how to handle the guilt I felt around you for what happened with my dad. I think… I think it was easier for me to run.” 

“Run off to war,” Michael says, giving him a look that has Alex rolling his eyes. 

“Yes, I see the irony, thanks,” he says, rubbing at his leg. “It’s not like my dad gave me much choice in the matter.” 

“So he forced you into it?” Michael asks. “When I asked you if your dad was making you do it, you brushed me off. Gave me some bullshit line about finding your own power.” 

“My dad told me that I was either going to enlist or I would be cut off completely,” he said. “Those had been my options since junior year when I started looking at colleges. I was prepared to be cut off. But after Rosa died and Liz left and you started spiraling… I just didn’t feel like I had anyone.” 

“You had Maria.” 

“Maria was never leaving Roswell. And I sure as hell wasn’t staying. So I enlisted,” he says. “I know it must sound stupid to you, the fact that I didn’t know how to survive without my dad’s money… But I didn’t. And I still really wanted his approval for some stupid reason. I felt like… Like maybe if I enlisted…” 

“Like he would finally love you,” Michael finishes for him. 

Alex nods. “I know you think I’m stupid for giving him so many chances to be a decent human being.”

Michael looks like he’s about to give an angry retort of his own, but swallows it down. “I should never have called you stupid that day, I was just frustrated,” Michael says. “I’m just not like you. People suck and the world is overwhelmingly awful. My anger  _ does _ make me feel safe. It’s what fuels my power. I don’t know how to let it go and I’m not sure I want to.” 

“You don’t have to,” Alex says quickly. “I mean I do hope that you eventually will. Because anger is bad for your health and I’m assuming that is true whether you’re human or alien. But it’s not fair for me to criticize your healing process. We both have a lot of trauma in our backgrounds. And we survived this long because we each came up with different coping mechanisms to get through. We shouldn’t judge each other or expect each other to deal with things in the same way.” 

“Did Dr. Celan tell you that during your last checkup with Bell?” Michael asks with a teasing smile, wiping away the tears from his eyes before Alex has a chance to. 

“Hey, dog trauma and people trauma isn’t that different,” Alex argues. 

John comes walking over to them and collapses on the ground beside them, whining in the way he always does. 

“Guess it’s probably time to get them back inside in the air conditioning,” Michael says, leaning down to pick John up and hold him against his chest. 

Alex looks across the yard to where Wendy and Peter are currently harassing a poor rabbit. “Wendy! Peter! Leave that thing alone!” Alex calls after them. 

“Let ‘em. That damn rabbit is going to destroy the garden,” Michael complains. 

“Yeah and the moment those two idiots bring a dead bloody rabbit to the door, I’m going to lose my mind,” he says. 

“You’ve been to war and a dead rabbit is too much?” Michael teases. 

“What if they eat it?” 

“You worry too much,” Michael says, standing up and walking towards the door, whistling for the kids to come inside. 

“Says the dad who literally carries that one everywhere,” Alex says, grabbing his crutch so that he can follow everyone into the house. 

“He gets cold,” Michael says defensively, covering John’s little ears as if his feelings might get hurt. “And his legs get tired.” 

Alex smiles at him fondly, rolling his eyes. Michael is ridiculous but he loves him for it. Seeing Michael with the dogs has only increased Alex’s desire to see Michael with a baby. With  _ their _ baby. But they shouldn’t get too ahead of themselves. First, he has to convince Michael to move in. 

“So, back to the original topic,” he says. 

“Which was?” Michael asks, distracted as he puts John down in the kitchen in front of his water bowl. 

“Moving in with me.” 

Michael stands up and gives him an amused smile. “Are you asking?” 

Alex lets out an annoyed huff at Michael being deliberately obtuse, because he knows that Alex isn’t always the best with his words. But if Michael wants to hear him say it, he can do that. 

“Michael Guerin, will you move in with me,” he asks. 

Michael beams at him, moving to stand in front of him and place his hands on Alex’s waist. “Of course. I was waiting for you to ask.” 

“I want you here,” Alex assures him. “Always.” 

Alex leans in and captures Michael’s lips with his own, tasting the coffee and Baileys on Michael’s lips as well. His hand slides up Michael’s sides as they shift closer together and deepen the kiss. He holds onto his crutch with his hand, feeling unsteady, but trusting Michael to make sure he doesn’t fall. His hand moves around his shoulder until it finally finds its way into his beautiful curls. Their tongues slide against each other as they both pull one another closer, Alex feeling Michael support his weight with his telekinesis, so that he doesn’t have to cling so tightly to the crutch. Alex’s hand moves to pull at the drawstring of Michael’s sweatpants when Michael pulls back. 

“Before we change the subject completely,” Michael says, sounding out of breath, which gives Alex endless satisfaction. “Can I tell you something?” 

Alex nods. 

“I’m not angry all of the time,” he says. 

Alex gives him a confused look. Unsure what he’s getting at. 

“You said that you want me to let go of my anger and I said that I wasn’t sure that I wanted to,” he says. Alex nods. He remembers. “I’m not angry all of the time.” 

“Okay...” 

“I’m not angry when I’m here with you. With the dogs. I’m actually pretty content,” he admits. 

Watching the way that Michael smiles at him, Alex is pretty sure that he understands exactly what Michael is talking about — He’s never been more content in his life. 


	16. Week 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Michael spend the morning after Halloween together... one of them is a bit hungover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I posted this chapter to Tumblr after Halloween, but I was avoiding AO3 after some people had harassed me in the comments of this fic. 
> 
> I had previously planned on updating this fic every Sunday as long as hiatus lasted. But after all the drama with fandom and the harassment I received, I just don't have the heart to keep working on this fic. It no longer brings me joy and instead just reminds me of the worst parts of fandom. I am sorry for anyone who's prompts I will not get to. I apologize to anyone who was looking forward to more Sunday Morning stories. I'm marking this fic as complete. I don't see myself coming back to it- but never say never. For now, I need to find things to write that bring me joy and don't bring me anxiety. Love you all and thanks for all the support you've shown me these last few months with this story.

When the puppies start barking at their usual 6:30am time, Alex instantly regrets all of his life choices. His head is pounding, his leg aches, and his stomach is a mess. It doesn’t help in the slightest that Michael is plastered to his side, hot as hell, and making Alex sweat. 

“Why did we get a dog?” Michael grumbles, nuzzling his nose into Alex’s neck and making him feel even worse. 

“Why did you let us get four?” he asks, pushing at Michael’s body. “And why the hell are you so hot?” 

“‘s cold,” Michael says, throwing his arm over Alex’s stomach. 

Alex pushes him away. “You’re a thousand degrees and I already want to die. Roll over or something.” 

Michael groans and Alex swears he hears him curse under his breath, but he thankfully rolls over and Alex feels like he can breathe a bit as cool air hits his overly heated skin. The relief he feels is only temporary though as his mind then zeroes in on how much his stomach is swirling and twisting. 

The puppies continue to bark. It’s too loud and the sun streaming in through the window is too bright. Everything is just too much right now and Alex needs it to stop. The mattress shifts as Bell jumps up onto the bed, making the world spin and Alex’s stomach does a dangerous tilt. He’s not even sure if he could make it to the bathroom fast enough to throw up if he had to, and so he prays he doesn’t need to. 

Michael loves him, but he doubts Michael would love it if Alex threw up in their bed. 

Bell pushes her head against his shoulder, demanding cuddles. Any other day, Alex would be more than willing to give into her demands. He loves cuddling with Bell in the mornings. But right now, he can’t focus on anything aside from not vomiting. She gives up and moves to do the same to Michael, who lifts his arm up and allows her to crawl on top of him and lay down. 

“Please tell me you’re as hungover as I am,” he complains, closing his eyes against the sun and willing the world to stop. He regrets not springing for blackout curtains when Michael was redoing their bedroom. 

Michael chuckles and it makes the bed shake, causing Alex to groan. “No, but I had about five beers and six shots less than you did,” he says. 

Alex cracks his eyes open just enough to give him a doubtful look. 

“Hey, I’m not the town drunk everyone thinks I am,” Michael protests. “And somebody had to make sure that everyone got home okay. Liz and Max were a mess. Only one of you guys who held their liquor with any dignity was Maria.” 

That’s probably fair. Alex doesn’t remember a lot of last night after the first two hours. Isobel had challenged him to a drinking game that he outright refused to lose on principle. But even the first two hours, he could tell that it was going to be one of those nights. He can’t blame his friends. It’s been a long few weeks of one alien drama after another but yesterday had been a surprisingly drama free Halloween night for them and they’d all just let loose. What he can remember of Michael though, is that he’d taken things slow most of the night, taking on the role of caretaker for everyone. 

“You had fun though, right?” he asks, worried that Michael had perhaps seen it as his duty to take care of everyone else instead of partaking in the fun himself. Part of the argument for having the party at their place was so that they could both enjoy the party rather than having to worry about getting home or taking care of the dogs. 

“Yeah, it was nice,” Michael says with a smile, running his hands over Bell, who looks perfectly content. Alex is jealous. He knows that there are few places more comfortable than Michael’s chest, but right now the thought of being anywhere near the furnace that is Michael sounds awful. 

“Don’t tell Isobel I said that,” Michael adds. “I already told her we are  _ not _ having Thanksgiving here under any circumstance… Which probably means I should start working on making that table I’ve been wanting to do in the back, because I’m pretty sure my protest means that we’re having Thanksgiving here.”

Alex laughs before it causes his head to pound even more and whines. “Don’t make me laugh. It hurts.” 

“I bet,” he says. “I’m not sure why you thought you could out drink my sister. On her lightest days she polishes off two bottles of wine a night.” 

“Because she gets annoying and smug when she wins and I refuse to put up with it,” Alex says and Michael just laughs. “Is Bell still wearing her wings?” 

Michael runs his hands over the fairy wings that Bell had worn yesterday as part of her Tinkerbell costume. They’d dressed all the dogs up in Peter Pan costumes to match their namesakes. It had been adorable, if Alex does say so himself.

“She didn’t want to take them off,” Michael says with a shrug. 

“Oh yeah? She tell you that herself?” he teases. 

“As a matter of fact, I tried to take them off last night and she whined and moved away, so yes she did,” Michael says. “And the puppies were asleep when I came back inside so I left their costumes on as well.” 

Alex reaches over tentatively, careful not to move too much of his body so that he doesn’t reignite the nausea, and pets Bell. “She does make a really cute fairy.” 

“Of course she does. She’s the most beautiful fairy in the world,” he agrees, lifting his head to kiss Bell’s nose. She licks his face in return. Michael turns to look at him, “Look at what Rosa taught her yesterday when they were both hiding out in here.” Michael looks back at Bell and says, “I do believe in fairies.” 

Bell howls twice as if to say, ‘I do, I do.’ 

Alex smiles, holding back his laugh for fear of making his stomach twist even more. Bell’s howl causes the puppies to go crazy from their spot in the kitchen though and suddenly everything is far less cute. Alex’s head pounds and he’s back to hating the world and wanting to curl up and die. 

“I guess I should go walk them since you’re clearly useless today,” Michael says. 

Alex throws his arm over his eyes and doesn’t bother arguing. 

He hears Bell protest before the bed shifts again, making Alex suck in a breath as he fights against his body’s urge to hurl. “Why don’t you try and shower? I’ll bring you breakfast in bed when I get back from walking them.” 

“Can we spend the entire day in bed?” Alex asks, hopefully. 

“I’ll even let you pick the movies we watch today,” he promises, placing a kiss to Alex’s forehead. 

“You smell like a distillery,” Michael says. 

Alex has a flash of Isobel breaking out a bottle of whiskey as they played Two Truths and a Lie with Maria. He’s sure that he’s got liquor coming out of his pores at this point. He doesn’t even remember the last time he drank this much. Perhaps the one time he’d gotten plastered before shipping off to Iraq the last time? The time they’d gotten into that nasty fight over Alex’s decision not to tell Michael he was being deployed again. Michael had had to hear it from Maria and had been none too pleased. 

Michael flips on the light and Alex whines. “I regret all of my life choices.” 

“Surely not all of them,” he teases. 

“Why didn’t you stop me last night?” Alex asks. 

Michael snorts. “Oh, I tried. Several times. You told me that you were a grown ass man who didn’t need a babysitter.” 

Alex grimaces, he doesn’t remember saying that, but he’s sure he probably did. “Sorry.” 

“You’re fine,” he says. “Max was way worse and far less cute while telling me to back off. You’re good.”

“It doesn’t sound like you had a good night,” Alex says, pushing Michael despite his earlier words, wanting to make sure that he truly did enjoy himself and wasn’t miserable.

“I promise, I enjoyed myself,” he says. “Rosa and I had a nice long talk. She’s gonna start working at the junkyard for me. I wouldn’t mind having somebody help run the office side of things. She loves her dad but needs some independence.” 

“That’s understandable,” Alex says. 

“Yeah, then Liz and I nerded out over science before Max stole her away. Kyle, Maria, and I played poker and I won $150. And I ended up watching Hocus Pocus for the first time and making cookies with Rosa once everyone got too shitfaced to form coherent sentences.” 

“You’ve never seen Hocus Pocus?” Alex asks, shocked. 

“Okay, first of all, why does everyone react like that when I say that? I watched it last night with Rosa and it was cute but it does not deserve that reaction out of people,” he says, grumpily. “And second of all, you  _ know _ that I didn’t have any of that shit growing up.” 

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” Alex says, kicking himself for always doing that. Always reacting to experiences Michael says he didn’t have growing up with shock. Alex knows better. He himself grew up in a home void of normal childhood experiences. But he had the Ortechos and the DeLucas to help give him happy holiday memories. He always assumes that Michael had that in the Evans family, but he’s regularly proven wrong. 

“Hey, listen, go walk the dogs,” Alex says. “I’ll hop in the shower. After breakfast we can watch all the holiday movies you never got to see growing up.” 

“Can we start with Home Alone?” he asks, that light, happy tone back in his voice. 

“Of course, followed up by A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” Alex promises. 

Forty-Five minutes later, the entire family is piled in their bed, warm and comfortable. Alex is slowly eating the pancakes that Michael prepared him, keeping his plate away from Peter’s thieving paws as best he can. His stomach is starting to settle and his headache is muted thanks to the ibuprofen that Michael left for him before he took the dogs on their walk. Home Alone is playing on the TV screen and Michael is curled up with a sleeping Bell and John, smiling soft and content. 

And right here, in this exact moment? Life feels utterly perfect. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you are able, please consider donating to the Navajo Nation COVID relief fund https://www.nndoh.org/donate.html


End file.
